CWU College in the High School program grows by nearly 3,000 registrations

Central Washington University’s College in the High School (CiHS) program gives students the chance to start their college journey before they’ve graduated from high school, setting them up for success in higher education.

This year, the program has seen significant growth, jumping to over 8,000 accepted students, more than a 64% increase over the 5,174 students who participated in 2022-23.

CWU College in the High School Director Kyle Carrigan attributes this surge in enrollment to recent Washington state legislation that makes the college credits obtained through the program free to all students, not just those who can afford to attend college.

“Charging money for the college credits created inequity in who could pursue them,” he said. “Removing that barrier has significantly increased the amount of interest we’ve seen in the program.”

CiHS partners with high schools around the state and works with teachers to ensure content parity between the 100- and 200-level classes offered in high schools and on CWU’s campuses. The program helps prospective students transition to college with CWU credits while maintaining their high school experience. As of last spring, all four CWU colleges deliver CiHS courses, and the program features endorsed instructors for 34 different disciplines.

Central’s ongoing statewide partnerships allow students in grades 9-12 to earn college credits without having to commute to the nearest college campus, making the program ideal for rural communities and other locations where proximity to institutions of higher education might be impacting the kinds of opportunities offered to students.

Charlene Harper, who has been teaching CiHS at Cle Elum-Roslyn High School for over a decade, says this approach helps level the playing field for her students.

“This is really going to have a strong impact on building the confidence of our younger learners, because they don’t have the same opportunities that students at larger schools closer to cities do,” she said. “Having this availability in our more rural setting is incredibly empowering. Students step up when they’re challenged, so it’s important that we offer them that challenge.”

Harper has more students this year than she’s ever had during her time at Cle Elum-Roslyn, and she foresees those numbers remaining steady thanks to CWU’s strong support for our partner high schools and teachers.

“Central’s been doing a great job maintaining the standard for the education they help provide to these kids,” she said. “The syllabus and course requirements they send are comprehensive and clear, and we get the training we need to put it into action in the best way possible. I think College in the High School will keep these robust numbers for a long time to come.”

As CWU continues to live into our new Vision and Mission statements with a focus on equity and access, the CiHS program is a valuable pillar to show the college students of tomorrow that they have a future here.

“Having students in high school take a college course and realize that this is something that’s within their grasp is super exciting for them,” Carrigan said. “Opening up those opportunities for students helps us move towards that college-going culture that we’d like to see, and helps even out some of the historic inequities faced by marginalized communities in Washington.”

Learn more about CWU College in the High School online, email hspartnerships@cwu.edu, or call 509-963-1351.