Many students take advantage of the college credit opportunities at Rocky. The two most popular of these options are CU Succeed and AP classes. If a student is planning on attending college, and wants to gain some credit while still in high school, it is highly recommended to look at one of these options.

CU Succeed lets a student graduate with college credits already on his or her official University of Colorado transcript. The CU Succeed has two programs. They are the Silver and Gold Programs and  work with high schools all over Colorado to give students opportunities to take real college courses and earn college credit while still in high school.

To take a CU Succeed class, students enroll as a student of University of Colorado. A qualified teacher must teach this class, meaning the teacher has taken a course to qualify as a CU teacher.. Classes are not free, but are offered at a reduced tuition rate and classes are scored by a letter grade. At only a fraction of the cost, students can gain this experience for college.

AP or Advanced Placement classes are a bit different than CU Succeed courses. Advanced Placement classes are offered to high school juniors and seniors. The classes are designed to prepare students for the rigors of college-level work. Sixty percent of high schools in the United States offer AP classes. There are many different subjects ranging from calculus to chemistry. All can be found with your counselor or on the registration sheet.

After a student has completed the class, they take the AP exam. It takes place in May and it costs $84 to take the test. Depending on the college and the test score, students can earn academic credit for a course or “test out” of a college class.

Often times, students struggle with which type of advanced classes to take. Rocky  offers concurrent enrollment through Front Range, CU Succeed, and AP classes. These all vary in options and  in cost.

Ms. Takahashi explained why students sometimes pick one over the other. She said, “We have had CU Succeed at Rocky longer, so that is what kids know. CU Succeed is here in the building, where concurrent enrollment is sometimes at Front Range. The AP classes are a one-shot opportunity. It is a test on one day of the year. AP is more widely known through colleges, but students that do not test well are not as likely to take these classes.”

There are many options available to students trying to get college credits out of the way. Students who have questions about college classes can talk to their counselor. The information for which classes offer college credit can be found on the registration form so that students know when they are signing up. All of these options are great opportunities that students could benefit from.