Miami High School is continuing and expanding its relationships with Northland Pioneer College and Prescott College, to offer college credit courses to students still in high school.

The offerings will total 80 credit hours this year.

These are college courses taught during the regular school day, by qualified and credentialed Miami teachers. Students earn their high school credit, plus either three or four college credit hours from the accredited partner colleges.

College credit courses are offered in traditional academic areas - English, math, civics and economics - as well as in several CTE programs - construction, culinary arts, graphic design, education and journalism.

Many high schools now offer college courses, usually by bringing in outside college instructors and at significant cost to the students. Miami boasts faculty members qualified to teach at the college level, and has reached friendly financial arrangements with the partner colleges.

Courses through Northland Pioneer are offered tuition-free, while students pay $100 for a four-hour course from Prescott College. This means that a hardworking student can complete a year or more of college for just a few hundred dollars, saving their families thousands in tuition and other costs.

According to Principal Glen Lineberry, the program has four goals:

Expose every student to college-level work to students while still in high school;

B students graduate with a semester of college already under their belts;

A students graduate with a year or more of college already completed; and,

Make the opportunity affordable for all students.

This program is offered to all upperclassmen with cumulative grade-point-average over 2.6.