Thousands of students have benefitted from the College Within a High School program, getting a running start on earning college credits, advancing a career path, or just trying on a college class for size.

Offered through Butler County Community College since 1997, the CWHS program last fall served more than 400 students in 22 high schools in seven counties.

In Butler County, the program is offered in Butler High School, Butler Vo-Tech, Mars High School, Portersville Christian School, Evangel Heights Christian Academy, Summit Academy and Seneca Valley High School.

“The program is designed for college-bound high school students who have demonstrated a strong academic performance by the end of their freshman year,” said BC3’s Erin Cioffi, assistant director of the CWHS program since 2016.

Sophomores, juniors and seniors can take part in college-level courses in subjects such as marketing, accounting, speech, economics, writing, history, algebra, statistics, music, philosophy, psychology and sociology.

“The courses offered in the College Within the High School program satisfy the general education requirements at four-year colleges and universities,” Cioffi said. “In fact, over 70 percent of the students attending BC3 plan on transferring their BC3 credits to a four-year school.”

There is a cost involved ($354/class for Butler County residents) and students do have to meet a certain high school GPA to take the classes (sophomores 3.25, juniors 3.0 and seniors 2.75 along with the permission of their parent/guardian and guidance counselor or principal).

Butler High School teacher Eric Christy doubles as a professor for the CWHS program.

Christy said the number of students in his general psychology class taught at BHS fluctuates. Right now the course has 12 students, but started with 16, he said. Usually the course has 25 to 28 students.

“It’s usually seniors because they’re more seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and they have aspirations,” Christy said.

Are most of these students working toward a career in psychology?

“The majority are not, at least for this course. I usually ask that question and only one or two hands go up. I’ve had a few students come back who said it really got them started in what they wanted to do. I think most are just trying it, getting a head start on college,” Christy said. “They see they can start as a freshman and already have two classes under their belts and maybe take a few less later.”

The psychology class he teaches in one section each semester fulfills both college and high school requirements. The part of the course that earns college credits finishes about a month before high school lets out, and the standards are a different between the two.

“For example, I’ve had some students who will get an A in the college class but a B in the high school class,” Christy said. “We get done with the college class earlier because we follow BC3’s schedule but the high school class continues, and sometimes students will do well in the BC3 part but then not really do as much after that.”

The college classes in the high schools are scheduled before, during or after the school day, in the evening, or on a Saturday, said Cioffi, or some are offered in a dual format like at Butler.

“College Within the High School courses use the same syllabus and instructional materials and follow the same semester schedule as do the same courses taught at one of BC3’s campuses or online,” Cioffi noted.

High school staff who teach for CWHS have had their credentials reviewed and are adjunct BC3 faculty members, Cioffi said.

Christy said teaching a college class to high school students is a tough balance sometimes. “You try to give them the experience without burning them out on it,” he said.

He said BHS students often take his course in collaboration with Jon McKay’s sociology course in the CWHS program.

McKay said he usually asks students in his principles of sociology class if they’re considering a career in the field.

“There is typically zero or one (student) at the beginning of the year, but the cool thing is by the end of the class there are four or five,” he said.

“It’s an interesting time to be taking the class,” he noted. “We’re talking about things that are happening in the world now, drug addiction, suicide, tech challenges, environmental challenges.”

A 14-year teacher, McKay said he has been involved with CWHS for five years.

“So I’ve had kids come back now and tell me they’re getting into social work, helping people in social work or on the academic side, research.

“The kids love it. The college and the high school have been really great about it, so I hope it goes on for a long time,” McKay said.

“I think the numbers speak for themselves, that the program is in as many schools as it is and in seven counties,” Cioffi said.

“Some students (earn enough credits they can) even start college as sophomores,” she said.