© Wrote

A growing number of high school students are taking online college classes to test the waters and earn university-level credit. RedOrbit reports:

"...About a dozen PVHS students, and about 150 juniors and seniors from 90 of the state's 140 high schools...take UMaine college courses via the Internet each semester, said Jim Patterson, coordinator of the university's Academ-e program.

Since it began about two years ago, the program has carried about $800,000 worth of tuitioned college programming paid for by the universities, public schools and private institutions, Patterson said.

The program's goal, Patterson said, is to do as Hockridge said: to let ambitious and properly qualified high school students taste the rigors of university academia without costing themselves a dime.

"To me it's like an insurance policy," Patterson said. "Students get a sense as to what they will be needing in the fall [before enrolling in college], so they get to see what a strong college course is."

While concurrent enrollment has always been a popular option for advanced high schoolers, these online classes allow students to take college classes without the commute. Many online college classes are also available on weekends and evenings, making it easy for students to meet their high school obligations.