An Opportunity Many South Students Miss Out On

Trevor Summers, Reporter

With the ‘18-’19 school year flying by, it’s almost that time of year to be thinking about scheduling classes for next year. South has many course pathways to offer, but many students are not familiar with the CCP (College Credit Plus) courses. According to business and CCP teacher Linda Mapes, “Many current CCP students I talk to wish they would’ve known about it sooner. Many students have interest in the classes but find out too late.”

“CCP is a way for students to earn not only high school credit, but college credit as well (at participating colleges),” CCP teacher Cindy Calvin said. The tuition is free, which is a great way to start college with some credit and without any debt. Students get three college credits per class as well as a full high school credit for a semester class. “You get a taste of college, while still having the accessibility of a high school teacher,” CCP teacher Laurie Marburger said.

The contingency is that if a student fails the class or drops it past the deadline to drop the class, the tuition is fully charged, which can be upwards of $300 or even $400. Students shouldn’t let that scare them away though, as teachers Linda Mapes, Cindy Calvin, and Laurie Marburger have never had a student fail their CCP classes. “I’ve had a few students try pretty hard at failing,” Mapes said.

There are a large variety of CCP classes taught at South, all through Columbus State. There are six business classes, including Personal Finance and Marketing Principles. Composition one and two in english. Calculus two and three in math. There are also four science courses including medical terminology.

Don’t just take South teacher’s word for it. Derrick Baah, 2018 South graduate and current attendee at Ohio State-Newark, believes CCP classes are well worth taking advantage of. “They’ve really helped prepare me for college and life. The challenging part is you have to manage your own time and keep up with the schedule and due dates, just like in college. I would recommend the personal finance course, it really helped me learn to manage my finances,” Baah said.

Current South sophomore Iman Benlemlih has taken full advantage of CCP classes. “It has been a good experience to get familiar with the workload of a college course,” Benlemlih said. She has taken personal finance and Computer Concepts and Applications. “I would definitely recommend that students get involved in CCP early in their high school career, to get a good head start in college,” Benlemlih said.

So why aren’t more students involved in CCP? “Many students don’t follow through with the process of turning in their intent form, applying to the college, and taking any necessary placement tests,” Mapes said.

Signing up for a CCP class is much different than a regular class taught at South. Students have to turn in an intent form, apply to Columbus State, and meet the necessary benchmarks for the classes that student wishes to take. ACT, SAT, or an Accuplacer test through the college can be used to see if they meet the benchmark.

Most students take CCP classes that are taught by South teachers here at South, through Columbus State Community College. The process for signing up is more lengthy than regular high school courses. “To get involved with CCP, you need to pay close attention to several deadlines, and have good communication with counselors,” counselor Jenny Coulter said.

So while the process may seem more involved than regular courses, it’s well worth it. “Many colleges look at CCP courses highly, just as AP and IB courses. It shows to them that the student is college-ready, responsible, and that they are capable of a college workload,” Coulter said. Many CCP classes, such as personal finance, are classes most students will have to take in college anyways in the future. Students can get those classes out of the way now, at no tuition, all while earning high school credit as well.