High School juniors and seniors can take college courses to kickstart their educational careers through a dual enrollment program at El Camino College.

The college’s Dual Enrollment Program has been around for over 25 years, but it found its drive in 2016 through the passage of AB288 College and Career Access Pathways (CCAP).

Currently, the program partners with over 22 high schools from various districts, including Centinela Valley High School District, Torrance Unified School District and Inglewood Unified School District. They are the first districts to implement dual enrollment following the passage of AB288.

Michelle Arthur, coordinator of the Dual Enrollment and Early College Program, said the program changes the lives of students and their parents because of the different opportunities it brings them.

“Students exposed to early college and having it be part of their core day means their rates of success are higher because they are supported by their parents, teachers and school,” Arthur said.

She said two types of dual enrollment are offered: individual and partnership.

Individual dual enrollment allows high school students to come onto the college campus and take in-person classes. Partnership dual enrollment is done through a collaboration between the college and the surrounding high school.

Students who take the classes through the partnership do not need to pay any fees and have access to some of the same resources offered to part-time and full-time El Camino students.

Some of these include the Warrior Pantry, academic counselors, the Student Health Center and tutoring through the Tutoring Hub.

Arthur said undocumented students are also eligible for the dual enrollment program alongside students with disabilities.

The program at El Camino currently has over 1,500 to 2,000 students from over 20-plus high schools enrolled. Arthur said the program continues to grow with courses offered to juniors and seniors for the fall and spring semesters.

“It is an equity strategy,” Arthur said.

Students and their families can save time, money and advance their college education.

Christopher Nguyen, a 20-year-old kinesiology major, said he took dual enrollment English classes as a senior before coming to El Camino.

“I was already taking APs, and additional college didn’t make it easier,” Nguyen said. “However, it prepared me for the future and pushed me to work harder.”

Nguyen recommends students take dual enrollment courses available to juniors and seniors.

“Taking those classes has fastened my transfer process and reduced the amount of coursework I needed to take each semester to transfer within two years,” Nguyen said.

English is one of over 100 courses offered in the dual enrollment program. Arthur says the courses that are offered depend on the high school.

The courses offered to students are UC/CSU transferable and follow the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC).

Architecture major Collin Kim, 20, said even though he failed the dual enrollment class, it helped him understand how community college operated and prepared him for college after graduating high school.

“I would highly recommend other people taking this program,” Kim said. “Because it helps you with getting your units done and it’s very helpful in the future.”