State grant aims to increase students earning college credit in high school

BOARDMAN

A $1 million state grant aims to increase the number of Northeast Ohio students who earn college credit while still in high school.

The Mahoning County Educational Service Center received the College Credit Plus Teacher Support Grant, a joint award from the Ohio Department of Education and the Ohio Department of Higher Education.

“The idea is to increase the number of teachers qualified to teach the courses, and that would increase the number of courses in the districts and the students taking them,” said Douglas Hiscox, MCESC’s assistant director of teaching and learning.

Teachers in Mahoning, Columbiana, Trumbull, Ashtabula and Portage counties will benefit. Youngstown State University is ESC’s higher education partner in the grant.

For many years, high schools have offered college-level courses to students, allowing them to earn college credit. At YSU, the program is called College Credit Plus.

With the state initiative comes expansion from only high school students to seventh- and eighth-graders. It also increases requirements for those teaching the courses.

Read more about the program expansion in Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.