What it is
Dual enrollment lets a high school student take real Porter courses — on campus, online, or sometimes at the high school — earning both high school and college credit at once. It is open to qualified juniors and seniors (and some sophomores) by application, with a recommendation from the high school and a minimum GPA.
The programs
There are a few paths: individual course enrollment (take one or two Porter courses a term alongside high school), a structured early-college pathway (a planned sequence, sometimes a full year, often in a technical or STEM area), and summer pre-college academies that are shorter and more exploratory. The right one depends on how much college-level work the student is ready for.
Cost
Under the state's dual-enrollment provisions, tuition for eligible courses is often covered or heavily reduced for the student — the arrangement varies by program and by whether the course is part of a formal agreement with the school district. Fees, books (rental), and transportation may still apply. The admissions office confirms the specifics for a given student and school.
How the credit carries
Credit earned as a dual-enrollment student goes on a Porter transcript. If the student later enrolls at Porter, it is already there. If they go elsewhere, it transfers like any accredited college credit — usually well, though the receiving school decides how each course applies. It is genuine college credit, not "high school honors."
The demands are real
A dual-enrollment student is a college student in that course — same syllabus, same expectations, same grading, and the grade goes on a permanent college transcript. That is the point (a real head start) and the risk (a low grade follows you). Students who do well are ready for the independence, not just the content.
Applying
Start with the high school counselor and the Porter admissions office in the semester before you want to enroll. There is an application, a transcript, a recommendation, and sometimes a placement step for math or writing. Deadlines are firm and earlier than a lot of families expect.
Fictional information
UW–Porter Falls is a work of parody. Every office, person, building, phone number and statistic on this page is invented; nothing here describes a real institution or a service you can actually contact.