Full circle: CELL serves Indiana students and teachers through Early College and dual credit credentialing programs

For years, Early College training and endorsement provided by CELL have helped Hoosier students earn intentional blocks of college credit while in high school, saving them time and money and increasing their success in postsecondary education. 

More recently, CELL began serving teachers who instruct those dual credit classes or plan to in the future through two dual credit credentialing programs: STEM Teach, first launched in 2013, and Teach Dual Credit Indiana, launched in 2020.

Sarah Dwigans, an English teacher at Penn High School in Mishawaka, Indiana, was one of the first teachers to participate in Teach Dual Credit Indiana. After teaching since 2008, she joined Penn’s Early College team in 2014 and began teaching dual credit English classes in 2016.

Dwigans described the significant benefit of Early College and dual credit classes for students.

“It’s gotten them where they’ve wanted to go even faster, and they’ve been more successful,” Dwigans said of Penn’s Early College students. She described students who have earned a master’s degree in the time it would have taken to earn a bachelor’s degree thanks to dual credit classes and the associated cost and time savings.

In 2021, the 531 students enrolled in Penn High School’s Early College program earned 5,500 college credits and saved over $3 million on potential college tuition based on average in-state costs.

Beyond seeing the impact of dual credit classes for her students, Dwigans enjoys the four-year cohort approach of Penn’s Early College program, which allows her to build deeper relationships with students and see their progress throughout high school.

“I absolutely love it and can’t imagine doing anything else,” Dwigans said.

However, without Teach Dual Credit Indiana, Dwigans may not have been able to continue teaching dual credit classes. 

The Higher Learning Commission recently updated guidelines for high school teachers who teach dual credit classes, requiring dual credit teachers to have a master’s degree in the content area or a master’s degree plus 18 graduate credits in the content area. Since Dwigans does not have a master’s degree, she would have lost her ability to teach dual credit classes when the requirements go into effect.

 “I was really upset,” Dwigans shared regarding the news. After seeing the stress and financial burden of colleagues who attempted to complete a master’s degree on their own, she knew that route wasn’t for her.

Then in the fall of 2020, her principal sent her an email about a new program: Teach Dual Credit Indiana. Teach Dual Credit Indiana provides free graduate courses through public and private Indiana universities for teachers to complete dual credit credentialing requirements, removing the financial barrier by funding tuition and textbooks for courses through the program.

Dwigans wasn’t sure if she could manage graduate coursework on top of her other responsibilities, but she decided to apply. Her first course was so successful that she took a course every term, completing 18 graduate credits in English through Teach Dual Credit Indiana in less than a year.

But the benefits didn’t end there. Teach Dual Credit Indiana then paid for her to complete a master’s degree in English in Education through Indiana Wesleyan University. 

In October, less than 2 years after beginning the program, Dwigans will complete her final course and will receive a master’s degree at no cost to her or her school, saving over $17,000. 

“This program was a lifesaver to me,” Dwigans said. 

Thanks to Teach Dual Credit Indiana, her students will continue to benefit from dual credit classes and from the additional content area knowledge she gained from graduate courses through the program.

What is Dwigans’ advice to teachers interested in Teach Dual Credit Indiana? “I would tell them it’s too good of an opportunity to pass up!”

Tying It All Together

Penn High School was endorsed by CELL as an Early College High School in 2019 and was recently re-endorsed as a Level 2 Early College High School with Distinction. Now, Penn is paying it forward after being selected as one of four mentor high schools for the Urban College Acceleration Network (UCAN), an initiative led by CELL in partnership with the Indiana Department of Education. UCAN will assist urban high schools seeking Early College endorsement by partnering them with endorsed mentor schools and providing ongoing professional development and support.