Justin Wall will graduate twice this month.
Wall, 16, graduated from NorthWest Arkansas Community College with an associate's degree in the applied sciences of computer-aided design with an emphasis in architecture. He was 14 when he started taking college classes.
He will graduate Saturday from Pea Ridge High School.
He's one of five children in his family -- the Walls have eight children -- who have taken classes at the college while still in high school. He will graduate from Pea Ridge High School a year early, and is seeking an internship in the civil engineering field. Until this school year, he was home-schooled.
His next stop is the University of Arkansas where he will study engineering this fall. With the college credit he has earned, it should take him no more than two years to earn his bachelor's degree, said his mother, Mechel Wall.
The Early College Experience gets students serious about their education and their future, Mechel Wall said.
"They get a vision of who they can become and what they can do," she said.
Justin Wall said professors expect as much out of the high school students as they do the traditional college students.
It's rare for students to receive college degrees at the same time or before they graduate high school, said Todd Kitchen, NWACC's vice president for learner support services.
"However, we expect to see more students ... as we increase our partnerships for K-12 partners and students who want to earn college degrees concurrently while attending high school," Kitchen said.
Under the Early College Experience program, the college and area high schools agree to help accelerate student progress toward a college degree.
At a time when the college's overall enrollment has been sagging, concurrent enrollment is up. Fall 2013 enrollment decreased 3.8 percent from the previous fall semester, but concurrent enrollment increased 4.5 percent. About 700 high school students were enrolled last fall in more than 3,100 credit hours taught by college instructors either on the college's campus or at the high schools.
The main benefit for students is the money they save on higher education, said Diana Johnson, high school relations director. Students can take college classes at their high school for 40 percent of the tuition charged to traditional college students. All fees normally charged to college students are waived.
"You're expected to perform and do just as well," he said. "In college it's sink or swim. You've got to work hard and work fast."
Mechel Wall said young students can do it if they're motivated.
"It's not too hard. They can still have a good social life. I don't see any downside to it. We've been thrilled with the program the college has," she said.
Community on 05/14/2014