Ivy Tech Community College Hamilton County recently partnered with several area high schools to give students a chance to start college early by earning the Indiana College Core (ICC) in high school. The credential is a 30 credit hour general education core of college credit guaranteed to transfer between Indiana public colleges and universities
Four high schools within the service area have recently partnered with the Hamilton County Campus to provide this opportunity to their students: Eman Schools, Hamilton Heights High School, Excel Center – Noblesville, and Sheridan High School.
Eman Schools became the first school in the Ivy Tech Hamilton County service area to be designated an ICC delivery site.
“At Eman Schools we are absolutely blessed and honored to partner with Ivy Tech to offer our students college classes at the comfort of their school,” said Dr. Shaker Rashid, Eman Schools Superintendent. “We have seen a tremendous growth in our students who enroll in these rigorous and diverse classes. Not only do our students receive college credits that give them a head start in their college educational journey, but also these courses prepare them well for college and allow them to receive the most prestigious scholarships. This year we have made a commitment to increase the number of students who receive ICC degrees by at least 25 percent of our graduating class.”
Students take high school and Ivy Tech classes at the same time with dual credit or dual enrollment. Earning the Indiana College Core gives students the opportunity to earn their first year of college credits before they graduate high school and the chance to “Start as a Sophomore” at Ivy Tech or other public colleges.
The first public high school and second school to become an ICC delivery site is Hamilton Heights High School.
“We are so excited about the opportunity to partner with Ivy Tech in offering the ICC to our students here at Hamilton Heights High School,” Heights Principal Jarrod Mason said. “Opportunities like this help open doors for students to succeed and get excited about furthering their education. We’re here for it!”
Per the Indiana Commission for Higher Education, students who earn the Indiana College Core are likely to succeed, citing about 94 percent of high school students who earned the Indiana College Core going on to attend college and 70 percent of Indiana College Core earners meeting benchmarks for early success in college, including course completion and retention.
The Excel Center – Noblesville, located in the same building as Ivy Tech Hamilton County, becomes the first Excel Center in the state of Indiana to participate as an ICC delivery site.
“When the Excel Center in Noblesville opened its doors in 2015, the opportunities for us to partner with Ivy Tech were limited,” said Steve Dillon, Director of the Excel Center – Noblesville. “Over the last few years, those opportunities have steadily increased. We are excited to be able to offer our students their first year of college through the Indiana College Core program. This new opportunity will give many of our students that much needed ‘second chance’ at a better life through education.”
“Sheridan High School has benefited greatly from our partnership with Ivy Tech,” Sheridan High School Principal Rick Davis said. “As a member of the Rural Early College Network, we have been working on increasing our access to dual credit opportunities and Ivy Tech has been outstanding in this effort. The collaboration and efforts to help bridge the divide between HS and college for our students has now allowed us to be able to offer to the students of Sheridan High School access to the Indiana College Core. We are excited for the continued partnership and opportunities for the students of Sheridan High School. Great things happen when we work together for our students and being able to offer the ICC is just one example.”
In addition to being among the first high schools in Hamilton County to offer the Indiana College Core, Hamilton Heights High School and Sheridan High School also hold the unique distinction of being the first two high schools within the service area to pilot Ivy Tech’s College Connection Coach model. The model places a College Connection Coach, who is an Ivy Tech employee, at each school two days a week throughout the academic year.
The College Connection Coach assists with being a bridge between Ivy Tech and local high schools by assisting with the establishment of high-quality Career and Technical Education programs to meet workforce needs within our area, supporting students through the college enrollment process, and working to close retention and equity gaps on the path to higher education.
“This is a milestone for Ivy Tech Hamilton County and our Hamilton County high schools as we welcome our first four Indiana College Core partners since Hamilton County became an independent campus in 2021,” said Abby Tremain, Ivy Tech Hamilton County Director of K-14 Initiatives. “These four schools serve as a model within the service area in early college programming opportunities for their students and we are excited to see that number grow even further with this new partnership.”
In the 2022-2023 academic year, Hamilton County high school students saved over $2.9 million in college tuition through dual credit and dual enrollment programming and received over 21,000 college credits through Ivy Tech while still in high school.
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