Evelyn Pyburn with The Big Sky Business Journal and I were chatting about this earlier in the week. It really sounds like a win-win. High school students here in Montana can get college credits while still in high school, and they save time and money down the road.

Earlier this week, Montana State University-Billings and School District 2 in Billings announced an expansion of a program that does just that. In addition, the new program allows high school starts to start on a college degree track while still in high school.

According to MSU-Billings, students will be able to combine dual credit courses like Advanced Placement classes, along with college courses students can take on campus. Those classes will now count toward the 30 credits of general education requirements needed to start college as a sophomore. This new partnership between MSU-B and SD2 will focus on prospective education majors.

Montana's Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen hailed the partnership:

ARNTZEN: The 1+3 Educator Pathways Program is a tremendous example of collaboration between Montana’s K-12 schools and our post-secondary institutions that will provide new opportunities for students in the Billings community to succeed. I hope that this will serve as a starting point to launch similar programs across our state.

 

We spoke with MSU-B Chancellor Dan Edelman and SD2 Superintendent Greg Upham earlier this week. Listen to the conversation by clicking below.

 

 

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