Early start on college

Murray High senior Matt Collins is years shy of an MBA, but he's shown a businessman's mettle on his first big investment: Education.

Collins, who graduates Friday from high school, already has an associate's degree from Salt Lake Community College. He is among six seniors at his school, and likely more than 170 statewide, who used what some seniors view as kick-back time to kick start their college careers — with the potential to earn a two-year diploma.

The effort could be viewed as sweat equity. It saves families up to $5,000 in tuition costs at a state two-year college. For those who do earn their associate's degree, it also brings hefty state scholarships for the remaining requirements on a bachelor's degree.

"It's just free college in high school," Collins said.

Teens and parents — particularly in rural Utah — are figuring that out in unprecedented numbers.

The senior year is often viewed as kick-back time. Students academically march along through their junior year, which is key for applications to potential colleges. But by the time they're seniors they often have few credits to complete. Some stack schedules with classes of little consequence.

State leaders have proposed increasing graduation requirements and requiring students to choose more core classes, such as math or science, to make the senior year mean more.

But some teens are doing just that on their own through what's called concurrent enrollment.

Concurrent enrollment is an annual $5 million state endeavor through which students earn college credit while in high school. High school teachers with master's degrees double as adjunct faculty and teach college classes to teenagers during the regular school day. Students also take college classes via distance education through real-time, two-way TV.

Last school year, Utah high school students earned 147,000 college credits through concurrent enrollment, the State Office of Education reports.

Such classes, which in some cases carry a small registration fee and book costs, probably saved Murray High parents $600,000 in college tuition, assistant principal Glo Merrill said.

Savings are even sweeter for those who actually earn their associate's degree while in high school. The state offers them a New Century Scholarship to cover 75 percent of costs to finish their bachelor's degrees.