From 40 units to 20: Dual Enrollment Policies Change

Dual enrollment has been offered for many years and has become popular as a method for students to take classes on their timeline. 

There are a variety of classes students can take through the process. 

Students are given the opportunity to take courses that may not be offered on campus during the school year, but some will sign up for core classes over the summer that are mandatory in order to get ahead or to open up their schedules. 

Many community colleges participate in the dual enrollment opportunity, such as El Camino, one of the most well-known colleges that students from PVHS take classes from. 

Junior Karen Hori is one of the many students that have taken an online course at El Camino.

“I took AP US History over the summer last year because it didn’t fit in my schedule for the school year,” Hori said. 

“I signed up for it in May and got my course request approved and then enrolled into the class when it opened online.” 

Previously, students were allowed to take up to 40 units worth of classes, but some changes have been made this past year. 

“The new change is that you can take 20 units per discipline,” associate principal Jason Ito said. 

The school board made this new policy because, according to Ito, it’s “hard to validate the legitimacy of the classes when they are taken online. We are seeing that oftentimes students taking these online courses over the summer are not prepared for the next level course that they take during the school year.”

Limiting the amount of units students can take per discipline will benefit students in the future. 

Now, students can only take 20 units per category, but they can always submit more transcripts outside of the school district, exceeding the 40 unit limit. 

Taking these summer courses could make it more challenging to learn and retain the necessary information to succeed in school. 

The district is enforcing this new policy to prevent students from struggling in the future.