Anderson School District One to introduce college-in-high-school program

ANDERSON COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) – Officials in Anderson School District One are rolling out a new program to help more of their students earn a college degree before they graduate.

Students at Powdersville, Palmetto and Wren high schools will soon have the opportunity to earn an associate’s degree without having to commute to college.

Assistant Superintendent for Administration with Anderson School District One Jeff Wilson told 7NEWS they’re launching a “college-in-high school” program.

This will allow students to take two college credits a semester toward their degrees in-house.

The district applied for a $500 million grant from the SC Department of Education in late July to make the program available to all students.

“We want to make it as cost-effective as possible for our students because as you can probably understand, college is very expensive. So, that grant is really to help us pay for the students, so they don’t have to pay out of pocket for all of that,” said Wilson.

Wilson said the district will have a better idea of how much funds they’ll be able to use from the Department of Education to support the early-college program in October.

“The opportunity to graduate from high school with an associate’s degree, or your full credentials as a plumber, or your full credentials as an electrician… that’s pretty incredible, so we really like that,” Wilson added.

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