Students in the Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corporation (EVSC) can soon earn college credentials before they graduate.
The OptIn program, a collaboration between Ivy Tech Community College and the EVSC, will allow high school students to earn credentials in fields like industrial technology, visual communication, and business administration through a combination of dual credit and dual enrollment courses.
Jonathan Weinzapfel, chancellor of Ivy Tech's Evansville campus, said the program would prepare students for jobs immediately after graduation. Students could also be eligible for advanced standing at four-year universities.
The program will start in the fall of next year, but Weinzapfel said some details are still in the works.
"Logistically," he said, "there’s just a lot of sequencing and scheduling work that we have to coordinate to make sure that this is doable for a high school student."
Weinzapfel hopes the program will be free for students, paid for through reduced tuition, state reimbursements, and private donations.