She’s a high schooler and an IUP student. State system finds success with dual admission strategy.

Ella Fleming’s stomach sank when she walked into her first class at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

After all, Fleming was 16. Not to mention, she was almost two years shy of finishing high school during that initial class last fall.

“I was absolutely terrified,” said Fleming, of Armstrong Township, Indiana County, who will turn 17 in June. “I was walking into a classroom filled with 18- and 19-year-olds. I thought, “As soon as I walk in, everybody’s gonna know I’m younger.’”

But Fleming, dually enrolled at IUP and Indiana Area Senior High School, received no stares and fared well in her business class. She said no one – not even her professor – had an inkling she was still in high school unless she told them.

Growing demand among high school students for college-level courses has created a bright spot for some of Pennsylvania’s 10 state-owned universities, including IUP, even as they continue to confront overall enrollment losses.

Since 2018, the number of high school students like Fleming who are dual-enrolled as State System undergraduates has jumped by 69% to 1,239 – up from 734 students six years ago.

Starting this fall, those classes at IUP will cost less after the latest in a series of price reductions that will cut dual enrollment tuition and fees, per credit, to $100 from $204.50. The reduction was advanced by IUP President Michael Driscoll and reviewed by school trustees when they met last month.

Fleming, an Indiana Area high school junior, said she enrolled at IUP last fall “just to try it” but is now taking two additional dual enrollment courses this spring, one in macroeconomics and another in history.

She hopes that the three courses already under her belt, combined with others she intends to take while still in high school, will allow her to graduate up to two years early from IUP – and at a savings of thousands of dollars.

Since her dual enrollment courses also count toward her high school studies, she hopes to finish high school six months ahead of her spring 2025 graduation.

Growing ranks

To be sure, dual enrolled students remain a tiny share of the State System’s total enrollment of almost 83,000.

But their growing ranks contrast with overall system enrollment losses of 31% since 2010, notwithstanding first-year student gains the last two years. IUP’s overall enrollment ticked up by almost 5% last fall.

Dual enrollment growth also contrasts with fewer transfers into the State System by community college students and those from public and private four-year campuses. Between 2019 and 2023, those numbers collectively dropped by 22% to 4,219 students, according to State System data.

For the state-owned campuses, dual-enrolled students fill seats that might otherwise be empty. Those students also stay enrolled and graduate at higher rates and are more likely to enroll in a State System campus to begin with, said Kevin Hensil, a system spokesman.

Roughly 85% of dual-enrolled students remain enrolled from their freshman year in college to their sophomore year, and 57% graduate in four years, Hensil said. Both percentages are higher than those in the general student population.

At Commonwealth University, where dual enrollment has nearly tripled since 2018 to 583 students, officials say partnerships with surrounding school districts can can help encourage those cross-over admissions. The university’s provost, Diana Rogers-Adkinson, pointed to the Bloomsburg Area School District as an example.

”They have a goal to have a lot of their students graduating with an associate’s degree simultaneously with their high school degree,” said Rogers-Adkinson, whose institution was created by the 2022 merger of Bloomsburg, Lock Haven and Mansfield universities. “We actually had one young man in computer science who graduated from Bloomsburg and then went to his high school graduation the following weekend.”

He is now pursuing a master’s degree.

Hensil said the most popular pursuits among State System undergraduates who began as dual-enrolled students are education, health professions and related programs, business, management, marketing, and related support services, biological and biomedical sciences, and psychology.

Systemwide, dual enrollment totals in 2023 versus 2018 vary sharply by State System university. Eight of the 10 institutions saw at least some gain.

IUP, for instance, enrolls 105, up from 68; Slippery Rock University has 9, up from 6.

Two universities reported fewer dual enrolled students in fall 2023 versus 2018. They include:

PennWest University, 101, down from 142; and Millersville University, 58, down from 91.

Asked about the decline, Wendy Mackall, spokeswoman for PennWest, said the university formed in 2022 from the merger of California, Clarion and Edinboro universities has been focused on integrating academic offerings at those locations.

With a unified curriculum now in place, “We have the opportunity to take a closer look at dual enrollment as one part of a robust strategic enrollment plan,” she said.

Dual enrollment surfaced in recent negotiations with the State System’s faculty union, in part because Mansfield saw it as a student recruiting opportunity, said Kenneth Mash, president of the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties.

“I’m not sure it is consciously part of the System’s effort to get students out earlier, but there is something of a demand by students,” Mash said.

“The faculty remains conscious of total college costs, and we are supportive of dual enrollment where appropriate and under the circumstances that students are receiving quality college level courses,” he added.

Many years ago, IUP reduced dual enrollment tuition by 75% to $80 per credit. This March, the school went further by eliminating almost all dual enrollment fees, except the $20 technology fee.

IUP has seen its dual enrollment numbers nearly double since 2018 and sees additional potential given the newly reduced price.

“Our dual enrollment program continues to grow, and we believe this more student-friendly cost will encourage more students and families to take advantage of this program,” said Vice President for Student Affairs Tom Segar.

Early jump

For her part, Fleming said she is maintaining an active social life in high school, even while splitting her time between that school in the mornings and IUP in the afternoons, where she has made new friends.

Fleming likes that she is getting an early jump on her planned career in finance or accounting and hopes to eventually pursue a doctoral degree.

Initially, her grandmother drove her the short distance to IUP’s campus since she was not yet able to drive. She now has a license.

Fleming’s high school participates in a state Department of Community and Economic Development program that further reduces what she pays to textbook costs only.

In the last year alone, the Indiana Area School District has used some $30,000 in government funding to support about 50 students in their college-level studies, said Robert Heinrich Jr., the district superintendent.

Fleming said the experience has empowered her.

“It’s like you are a college student, and it really makes me feel more mature, like more of an adult,” she said.