High School Students Enroll for College Now at Record Rate

by Lauren McGuire, Student Public Relations Writer – June 9, 2021

Cedarville University’s College Now, a dual enrollment program designed for high school students, has seen record enrollment in each of the past three semesters.

In spring 2021, a record high 474 students enrolled. This is a 16% increase from the previous spring and surpasses the previous record high of 447 reached in the fall of 2020.

College Now allows high school students to get a jump-start on college courses and lower the overall cost of their college education. Cedarville participates in the popular College Credit Plus (CCP) program allowing Ohio high school students to take courses for free and reduces the tuition rate for all dual enrolled students by 80%.

Dual-credit courses are growing in popularity both in the state of Ohio and nationally. In the 2019-20 academic year, over 77,000 Ohio students took at least one dual-credit course, according to Stephen Buettell, director of College Now.

As COVID-19 disrupted education for many students, online dual enrollment gave high school students around the world access to challenging academic coursework. College Now ensures that students have access to college courses taught from a Christian worldview, and reaches online students from as far away as Malaysia, South Africa, Thailand and Peru. Local students can choose to take courses online or on campus.

“Now that SAT and ACT scores are no longer available to all students, I think that dual-credit courses are an increasingly relevant way for a student to demonstrate that they are ready for the academic challenge of college,” said Buettell.

The College Now program at Cedarville has seen growth every semester since fall 2019. This is in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a revitalized marketing strategy, a strong academic advising program, and continued engagement with families of students.

Located in southwest Ohio, Cedarville University is an accredited, Christ-centered, Baptist institution with an enrollment of 4,550 undergraduate, graduate, and online students in more than 150 areas of study. Founded in 1887, Cedarville is one of the largest private universities in Ohio, recognized nationally for its authentic Christian community, rigorous academic programs, strong graduation, and retention rates, accredited professional and health science offerings, and high student engagement ranking. For more information about the University, visit cedarville.edu.