Dual Credit at NDSU: Increasing Options and Exploring Possibilities
After a few years of start and stop planning, and a pandemic that made everything screech to a halt, we are excited to launch the Dual-Credit Program at NDSU. Courses will be offered during the 2022-23 academic year, but the registration process is happening right now.
Our colleagues at the junior colleges have been doing an amazing job of offering dual credit for many years. They have made universal general education classes like English 110 and College Algebra available to North Dakota (ND) high school students, allowing them to get a head start on college while fulfilling their high school course requirements.
NDSU’s dual-credit program has a somewhat different purpose.
Explore Interests
When your students take a dual-credit course at NDSU, they get to explore interests, learn more about different majors and topics, and get started on degree requirements at NDSU.
Classes like Tourism and International Travel Management, Introduction to Entrepreneurship, and Introduction to Food Science and Technology all provide a preview of those related majors and careers while meeting NDSU’s general education requirements.
They can also learn more about the world through the nine specialty social science classes like The American Presidency and Introduction to International Studies. Or, they can delve into the workings of the human brain and body with Life Span Development and Human Biology.
View our entire class listing.
View our course catalog.
Fill Teaching Gaps
As teacher shortages and tight budgets challenge ND high schools, dual-credit classes can extend the offerings available to students and even fill a gap when a high school is unable to fill a teaching position.
All of our classes are offered online and asynchronously, meaning they are available to students no matter where they live in ND and at the time that fits their high school schedule. In addition, they are taught exclusively by NDSU instructors which alleviates the need for your school to find a qualified teacher in that content area.
To support you and your students, NDSU will offer course advising support to dual-credit coordinators, answer students’ questions, host faculty office hours using a live virtual platform, and provide distance-based tutoring.
Cost Savings and Financial Assistance
Using classes offered both at the NDSU and the junior colleges, ND students could jump into their post-high school college experience with up to two years of college credits!
The cost savings is immense since dual-credit classes can be taken at less than half the cost of a full-priced credit, and the newly legislated Dual-Credit Scholarship allows ND college students to apply for up to half the cost of their ND dual-credit classes for up to $750 dollars.
When combining the reduced tuition rate and scholarship, the cost of those credits is less than a quarter of the cost of full-priced tuition. There is also assistance available through the Bank of North Dakota covering all dual-credit course costs to students who qualify. These financial assistance programs are evidence that North Dakota truly believes tuition should not be a barrier to participating in dual-credit classes.
If you are interested in learning more about our offerings, check out our dual-credit webpage. Students can sign up for classes through their high schools; just ask the school counselor or principal about Dual Credit at NDSU. If you are a counselor or principal and want to learn more, please email Stacy.Duffield@ndsu.edu.
We are excited to meet the newest members of our Bison family this fall!
About the Author
Dr. Stacy Duffield, is the director of NDSU’s Office of Teaching and Learning.
Dr. Stacy Duffield has been with NDSU since 2003. She began in the School of Education as a faculty member in the Teacher Education program.
Dr. Duffield’s professional interests focus on scholarship of teaching and learning with attention on effective teaching.