On May 8, members of Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s Council of Trustees heard a presentation about a new dual enrollment program designed to support pathways to high-priority occupations in a health-related field.
The Pennsylvania Department of Education recently announced funding of $808,454.13 for IUP’s project, which was the subject of a grant proposal by Meigan Robb in the Department of Nursing and Lei Hao in the Department of Allied and Public Health.
IUP’s project, titled “Student Training and Exploration Program for Health-Related Careers (STEP-HRC),” will begin in August and continue through June 2027. It will focus on the Armstrong, Apollo Ridge, Freeport, Homer-Center, Indiana Area, Leechburg, Marion Center, Penns Manor Area, Purchase Line, and United school districts.
IUP’s dual enrollment program invites high school students to enroll in selected IUP courses, both online and in-person on the Indiana, Punxsutawney, and Northpointe campuses, while completing their high school coursework. Courses are all taught by IUP faculty.
“This innovative project is an excellent fit with IUP’s strengths in health sciences, our commitment to community health and wellness, and our work to meet important workforce needs through education,” IUP President Michael Driscoll said.
“IUP is fully committed to providing all of our students with a high-quality education at an affordable price, and dual enrollment allows talented high school students to get a head start on their college degree by enrolling in IUP coursework at a reduced price. It’s a very exciting opportunity for students in our region, and I congratulate Dr. Robb and Dr. Hao for developing this program.”
Key elements of this new initiative include:
-
Enhancing strategic partnerships with key stakeholders to streamline health-related pathways that focus on expanding dual enrollment opportunities for rural high school students.
-
Supporting early career exploration and immersive opportunities, combining academic and career counseling to match students’ interests to local workforce opportunities.
-
Offering pathways that showcase how dual enrollment will enable students to meet their career aspirations in specific regional health-related career opportunities.
-
Creating tailor-made dual enrollment course offerings and dedicated dual enrollment sections for each pathway with options for single course, for students to investigate their career choice, or up to 30 credits enabling students to complete their health-related degree at an accelerated pace after high school graduation, enabling them to meet the local workforce needs more quickly.
-
Removing financial barriers to support equitable access to dual enrollment opportunities by offering courses at no cost and stipends to help defray costs of textbooks for rural high school students.
-
Embedding support for both rural high school students and university faculty members teaching dual enrollment courses to ensure underrepresented students are provided equitable dual enrollment experiences.
IUP’s dual enrollment pricing structure, endorsed in March 2024 by IUP’s Council of Trustees upon the recommendation of President Driscoll, sets the per-credit cost (tuition and fees) for dual-enrolled students at $100 per credit, a reduction of more than $100 from the previous cost. The pricing structure continues IUP’s 75 percent discount for dual enrollment courses from the undergraduate per credit tuition rate.
The grant proposal notes that IUP’s Strategic Plan for 2020–28 is focused on transforming the learning environment and reallocating resources, ensuring every student is successful and engaged in career exploration opportunities, such as job shadowing, and research for successful transition into the university and their career placement with employer partners.
National studies have shown that recruiting future healthcare professionals by engaging high school students in dual enrollment programs has been an effective method for bolstering the training and transitioning of the future workforce, according to Robb and Hao.
“IUP’s College of Health Sciences offers multiple programs that prepare students for careers in critical healthcare fields, making IUP a leader in healthcare education, providing students with numerous opportunities to enter the workforce or pursue graduate studies in healthcare,” Robb said.
“Partnerships, both internal and external, are the foundation of STEP-HRC, and letters of commitment have been secured from 10 school districts that are situated in Indiana and Armstrong counties designated as county-wide Health Professional Shortage Areas for low-income reasons, and from Indiana Regional Medical Center,” Robb said. “The program also is supported by the Armstrong Indiana Career Pathways Partnership to provide students with career-connected learning experiences.
“An important part of the program is to create a pipeline of future healthcare professionals by providing high school students from rural communities early exposure to health-related careers, opportunities to engage in college-level coursework at no cost, and support for meeting the academic demands of higher education and workforce roles,” she said.
Dedicated sections for STEP-HRC core courses will be offered each spring, summer, and fall semesters. In addition, the core courses will be offered in a variety of formats to provide students with the flexibility to choose a delivery format that best fits their schedules. This approach will allow rural high school students to engage with college-level coursework while still maintaining their high school commitments. Grant funding will be used to offer virtual (i.e., videoconferencing) technology support at each of the 10 committed school districts to assist students who need technology support.
Grant funding will be used to offer core courses at no cost, providing stipends to help defray the costs of course textbooks and related course material expenses, and to establish a laptop loaner program for rural high school students at each of the 10 committed school districts.
While priority will be given to STEP-HRC students to enroll in the offered core courses, the remaining course seats and stipends will be offered to rural high school students in the general dual enrollment program to further support meeting the educational needs of underserved students and career exploration in health-related fields.
As part of the STEP-HRC project, grant funding also will be used to embed course tutors, current undergraduate students who are familiar with the course topics and course expectations, to provide support both in-person and virtually to the dual enrollment students.
Funding from the grant also will be used to launch a targeted marketing recruitment campaign aimed at rural high school students, addressing common barriers faced by rural high school students and detailing available support services to alleviate concerns and encourage students—and their families—who are uncertain about pursuing the program.
“We know that rural high school students may not know how to navigate higher education opportunities, they may have unclear expectations of postsecondary environments, and might experience culture shock when they enroll in college,” she said. “We will follow best practices to address these issues, including developing new relationships with school counselors and implementing targeted recruitment strategies that increase personalized communication with students,” she said.
Grant funds will also be used to hold a yearly Career Exploration Event in collaboration with the Armstrong Indiana Career Pathway Partnership, and job shadowing opportunities at local health care facilities and providers.
Grant funding also will be used to develop and facilitate an online professional development course through IUP’s Center for Teaching Excellence, focusing on topics including understanding dual enrollment students, course expectations and rigor, pedagogical adjustments, communication and support, institutional and legal considerations, student development and success, equity, and access.
Fall 2024 dual enrollment at IUP totaled 155 students, a 50 percent increase in dual enrollment students from fall 2023. This is the highest dual enrollment number in the history of the university.
For the past decade, the Punxsutawney Area College Trust, a longtime supporter of IUP and its students, funded all costs for students from Punxsutawney Area High School and students in the district, which permits them to enroll in classes at IUP Punxsutawney tuition-free. IUP has seen a 400 percent increase from fall 2021 to fall 2023 in the number of dual enrollment students at IUP Punxsutawney.
For the last three semesters, Indiana Area School District has covered all the tuition and fees for students from its district who enroll in dual enrollment.