Oklahoma high school students are growing more savvy when it comes to earning college credit tuition-free, according to two reports presented Thursday to the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education.
The fall 2018 preliminary enrollment report shows the number of students taking college credit courses while still in high school continues to grow. The concurrent enrollment head count at public institutions is 10,569, an increase of 147 students from fall 2017.
The credit hours they are earning also is up by 2.4 percent to 55,235. Concurrent students on average are taking about five credit hours this semester.
The program, which began in 2005, is available to qualified juniors and seniors. Seniors can earn up to 18 credit hours tuition-free.
Concurrent enrollment was the only category in the report that showed an increase in head count from fall 2017 to fall 2018. Enrollment is down 1.8 percent at Oklahoma public colleges and universities, and down 5.2 percent at private institutions.