Thousands of CCSD students to graduate high school with college credit head start

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – Students from 19 high schools across the valley in the Clark County School District will walk across the stage at their high school graduation with college credit. It will give them a head start on college and save them some money in the process.

Nearly 2,000 high school seniors will graduate this month with college credit from the University of Nevada, Reno’s Collegiate Academy. The program offers high school students the ability to take college courses at a discounted rate in their high school classrooms. The credits are then good for any university or college across the country.

In ceremonies spanning across this week at the Las Vegas City Hall students and their families celebrated this milestone.

Charlene Orozco from the Northwest Career and Technical Academy plans to use the credits she earned to take college classes at the University of Nevada Reno.

“It’s going to save me a lot of time and money in the future, so it is the best thing for me,” she exclaimed. She took government and hospitality courses through the program and plans to go to UNR for film and journalism.

The Executive Vice President and Provost of the University of Nevada Reno, Jeff Thompson, was at the ceremony.

“They’ve proven they can do this and so I hope this provides some opportunities or ideas of what can be next for them,” he explained.

Thomspon said they have come a long way after just starting the program three years ago with about 700 students. Now they have about 4,500 students enrolled this spring semester.

26 courses across subjects including English, math, economics, psychology, world languages, political science, and chemistry were offered this year.

Currently, about 29 high schools across the state of Nevada participate in the program.

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