Seniors to Sophomores is a new dual enrollment opportunity announced by Governor Stickland in his 2008 State-of-the-State Address. Seniors to Sophomores allows qualified high school seniors to enroll fulltime on a University System of Ohio Campus and earn a  year of college credit at no cost to the student.

Forty-nine Early Adopter school districts and their identified University System partners have volunteered to pilot the Seniors to Sophomores beginning in the fall of 2008.

Eligible students must meet all of the following criteria:

• Pass all parts of the Ohio Graduation Test
• Complete Algebra II or the equivalent with a grade of "C" or better
• Complete three years of high school English with a grade of "C" or better
• Score college ready on the college partner's placement assessment as currently defined by the college.

The eligibility requirements for students wishing to enroll in the Seniors to Sophomores program are different than those for the Post-Secondary Enrollment Options Program. The PSEO program permits higher education institutions to establish their own student eligibility requirements. The student eligibility criteria for Seniors to Sophomores is established in the Request for Applications and includes the requirement that students take the college partner's placement assessment and place at a level of "college ready" (as currently defined by the college). While UniversitySsystem institutions can choose whether they want to partner as an Early Adopter, they do not have the option of increasing the student eligibility criteria.

Seniors to Sophomores is a new opportunity for students to earn college credit during high school. It does not replace PSEO or any of the other early college credit opportunities. Schools are encouraged to consider the entire menu of early college credit opportunities, including:

• Advanced Placement
• College Tech Prep
• Early College High Schools
• International Baccalaureate
• Postsecondary Enrollment Options
• Other dual enrollment agreements between high schools

The funding for planning grants comes from an appropriation in the Department of Education's budget, line item 200-536, Ohio Core Support. The language in H.B. 119 is as follows:

Of the foregoing appropriation item 200-536, Ohio Core Support, up to $5,675,000 in fiscal year 2009 shall be distributed to public school districts for supplemental post-secondary enrollment option participation. The Partnership for Continued Learning shall make program recommendations by October 31, 2007, to the Department of Education and the Board of Regents to remove school district barriers to participation and improve the quality of course offerings, ensuring that credit earned at institutions of higher education will apply toward high school graduation requirements and associate or baccalaureate degree requirements. Eligibility requirements and grant amounts awarded to school districts in fiscal year 2009 for the program shall be determined by criteria established by the Department of Education in collaboration with the Board of Regents and the Partnership for Continued Learning.

Note: Through recent budget reductions, the appropriated $5.675 million has been reduced.

Seniors to Sophomores is to be funded using existing state funds paid to schools and/or the existing state share of instruction funds (SSI) paid to higher education institutions, as well as any private or other sustainable funds. One of the Early Adopter grant deliverables is for school districts and their partners to develop creative models of revenue sharing with existing funds. These could include an agreement between the school district and the institution of higher education partner for a new configuration of how state Post-Secondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) funding is distributed to the school district and partner college or university, the use of sustainable private funds, etc.

Early Adopters must design, pilot, and develop an expansion plan for Seniors to Sophomores as one option for students. Early Adopter grant dollars can be used to expand other dual enrollment and accelerated learning options for students.

The RFA notes required criteria for any dual enrollment options delivered on a high school campus:

"Any dual enrollment agreements where college credit is offered on the high school campus must include the following quality assurance criteria:

• All faculty meet Higher Learning Commission criteria.
• All courses offered are either Transfer Assurance Guide (TAG) or Transfer Module Courses or courses that are at the beginning of Technical degree programs.
• All courses use the college text(s), assessments and syllabi
• The college agrees to identify a college faculty member or academic administrator liaison to monitor the quality of the course and visit the high school site at least once per term."

The Higher Learning Commission criteria indicate that faculty teaching in undergraduate programs should hold a degree at least one level above that of the program in which they are teaching, and those teaching general education courses should typically hold a master’s degree or higher and should have completed substantial graduate coursework in the discipline of those courses.

You can find a description of the Higher Learning Commission’s Guidance on Determining Qualified Faculty at: http://www.ncahlc.org/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&Itemid=229&gid=33

We want to encourage school districts to think broadly about raising the aspirations of all students and enabling them to earn college credit while they are in high school. A school district's application could include plans to expand other dual enrollment and accelerated learning options such as Advanced Placement, the Post-Secondary Enrollment Options Program, Tech Prep, Early College High School, and International Baccalaureate. However, the plan must include the Seniors to Sophomores program, in which high school seniors have the opportunity to earn at least 24 semester hours or 36 quarter hours of college credit as dual enrollment students on a University System of Ohio campus. The credits cannot be extended over the junior and senior years for the Senior to Sophomore option.

We have not yet determined how data about Seniors to Sophomores students will be reported. A reporting mechanism will be developed in the near future. Because Seniors to Sophomores is a different program, it will be important to establish a mechanism for reporting student participation and success rates.