Wilson College Partnership Provides College Credits at Area High Schools

Fifteen students from Chambersburg Area Senior High School and Career Magnet School will end the fall semester with college credits from Wilson College that they earned without leaving their high school campuses. Through a new agreement, Wilson became a preferred partner of both schools and now offers dual enrollment classes on site at each location. 

The Chambersburg Area School District and Wilson College began conversations last winter and reached an agreement during the summer. The high schools aligned their Advanced Placement (AP) courses—seven subjects this fall—with the Wilson curriculum to ensure both schools meet their required learning outcomes. Interested students were then required to work through the standard Wilson admissions and registration processes to enroll. Qualified high school teachers who meet the College’s requirements for credentials and qualifications will teach the courses. Wilson College applies the same interview and vetting process to the dual-enrollment teachers as they do to adjunct instructors. 

While Wilson already offers dual enrollment courses at its Philadelphia Avenue location, one of the main benefits of this new program is to provide access to dual-enrollment courses for more students. “We’re providing opportunities for the students who don’t have transportation to get to the Wilson campus,” said William Sommers, Wilson College Vice President for Enrollment Management. 

The high schools also saw increased enrollment in their advanced classes because the dual-enrollment course is automatically transferable at the college level. Without dual enrollment, an AP student needs to earn a passing grade for the course as well as take the AP exam and score high enough to transfer the credit to their selected college or university. Wilson College benefits from the agreements by garnering a more direct relationship with area schools. “This program helps create greater awareness of Wilson College, not only among the students who are taking these courses but also among the staff, the counselors, and the teachers,” said Sommers.