Teens earn education credit at IU High School

Before coming to IU, freshman Nate Mitchell needed a way to finish high school while playing soccer in Argentina.

Although not in the country, Mitchell discovered IU High School as one path to attaining his degree. For more than 80 years, the program has helped prisoners, athletes and scores of people overseas secure a diploma. And today, the program is as popular as ever, with last year’s enrollment surging 19 percent.

“The program allowed me to focus on soccer, which is why I went to Argentina, yet still continue my educational process and attain my high school diploma,” Mitchell said.

IU High School started in 1925 as a program to offer only course credit. Today it has become an actual high school that would allow students to pursue a diploma from the school itself, said Bruce Colston, director of IU High School.

The program offered through IU’s School of Continuing Studies is a type of distance education in which students from 48 states and 13 countries receive high school credit through either Internet courses or other types of correspondence without sitting in a classroom, Colston said.

There are currently about 1,000 students who are on track to receive an IU High School diploma, and another 4,000 who are getting high school credit from the program, but will not receive a diploma, Colston said.

Many students are attracted to the program because it offers a flexible way to achieve a quality education, Colston said.

“What we are really offering is quality and flexibility,” Colston said.

Mitchell said the program was well-run and easy to understand and use.

“The online classes were very easy to do, the Web site work was well organized, and I had a teacher that was in charge of my classes and would help me answer my questions whenever I needed help,” Mitchell said. “I think that without this program my experience in Argentina would not have been as fulfilling.”

Colston said he thinks IU is among the oldest and most prominent programs of its kind.

The school is credited by the Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement and is a member of the North Central Association, according to the school’s Web site.
Colston also stresses that diversity plays a large role in the program, and not every student comes to the school for the same reasons.

“Our student body is very diverse; some people think we only deal with one type of student,” Colston said.

He said one of the most exciting parts of the program is working with kids from different parts of the world, like Mitchell.

“We are always looking to expand internationally,” Colston said. “It is an exciting part of our program to have students from the Philippines, Nigeria and China who want to earn an American-style education for one reason or the other.”

With the program growing, Colston said he is trying to find new ways to get IU students involved.

“I am interested in exploring the idea of using college students as online tutors for our students, and I would be very interested in pursuing that with appropriate organizations or maybe the School of Education,” Colston said. “It would be a nice way to get students involved.”