GEO Next Generation High School, a charter school in Baton Rouge, has partnered with Baton Rouge Community College to develop an innovative program that allows GEO students to earn college credit and an associate degree while still in high school. Dual enrollment programs are common in high schools across the country, but the GEO/BRCC program is unique because it is free. The school uses per-pupil funding already in place to cover all fees.  

Early indicators show that students are buying into the program, and it is making a difference. In GEO’s class of 2023, the school’s first graduating class, 50% graduated with at least one full year of college credit, with 10% earning a full associate degree.

The current program has been so successful that the schools launched an expanded pilot program this year that allows 25 seniors to take all their classes at Baton Rouge Community College.  

To learn more about this innovative program, read Liz Cohen’s article, Louisiana Charter Offers Affordable Path to a College Degree – in High School, in The 74.