University of Minnesota working to make college classes more accessible to high school students

The University of Minnesota is working to make college courses more accessible to high school students.

As the school year beings around 600 new students will begin taking college courses on the Twin Cities campus but thousands more will also be gearing up for the University's College in the Schools program with college credit classes that can be taken at the high school.

"We have 29 different subject areas offering many of those courses are in subject areas that will help students fulfill their high school graduation," says Director of Dual Enrollment Emily Hanson.

She says right now the university is striving to reach more students with the opportunity.

"Proactively reaching out to students who might be underrepresented in college environments and really trying to attract more students," Hanson says.

Hanson adds that Minnesota is a dominate force in these offerings nationwide.

"Across Minnesota, we're at about 43% nationally, about 34% of high school students take a college course," Hanson explains. "So Minnesota is really a leader."

But she stressed that there are more students to reach.

"College, and the schools, can increase as long as there's a school that's interested in offering a course, and a teacher who's qualified to teach the university course at their school," Hanson said.

Over 8,000 students take advantage of the program each year. She said any additional schools interested in the program should reach out to the University.