College Credit Plus connects high school students to engineering

Engineering courses required of all first-year engineering students at the University of Cincinnati are available to regional high school students, allowing them to earn college credit while in high school through the dual enrollment program called College Credit Plus (CCP).

The College of Engineering and Applied Science (CEAS) at UC has been an innovator in this area. Now, area high school students and the college itself are reaping the rewards while evolving with the changing landscape of such educational opportunities.

In 2007, CEAS launched a collaboration with Cincinnati-area high schools to offer dual enrollment to qualified students. A total of 80 students at four high schools took part in the inaugural program. Today, through CCP, CEAS enrolls nearly 400 high school students from 19 area high schools in introductory engineering courses.

This partnership between CEAS and area high schools is an example of UC's urban impact, as outlined in UC’s strategic direction, Next Lives Here.

The program pays off for the college as well. Between 2013 and 2017, CEAS saw 349 students matriculate to the college after their experience with the dual enrollment program.

These programs can offer many benefits. High school students are offered an enhanced curriculum, an improved transition to college and reduced time and cost to earn a college degree. The college gets to promote engineering to area high school students while also potentially attracting new students to the college.

“The CCP partnership with Kings High School has generated passion about the engineering profession while exposing students to rigorous college level curriculum,” high school math teacher Jason Shields said. “The challenge-based learning projects that the students complete in the program give my students an extra edge for their co-op interviews and in their future career.”

Through CCP, a program launched by the state of Ohio in 2015, CEAS provides high school students the ability to participate in two dual-enrollment courses: an engineering foundations course and an engineering models course. These two courses, ENED 1020 and ENED 1090, are required of all students in the college.

In the case of Kings High School, Shields said students enroll for yearlong engineering courses. In the first semester the students are learning curriculum designed by Kings and then the students take the UC engineering class in the spring. The Kings program as over 150 students.

“The UC CCP partnership has been an incredible opportunity for my students,” said Shields.

While math and science courses such as physics and chemistry are important, the CEAS CCP courses focus on design, teamwork, problem-solving, and visualization, skills and knowledge essential to engineering. With these goals in mind, high school teachers can design their class to best align with their students and resources. Some high schools can use traditional classroom time or a flipped classroom with lectures assigned as homework.

The high school curriculum can also include some attention-grabbing projects. One example, at nearby Princeton High School, recently had students designing and operating remote controlled vehicles in the pool while trying to collect certain objects. Such experiences give high school students a glimpse of real-world engineering challenges and the methods for finding possible solutions.

The lists of regional high schools and participating students continues to grow, paving the way for even more students to get a jump start on an engineering degree.

If you have questions about the CEAS College Credit Plus program, please contact Eugene Rutz at eugene.rutz@uc.edu.