Wow.  Wow!  The best way I can describe how I feel right now is – overwhelmed with gratitude.

Just a four days ago, on Dec 5, 2016, I announced that my book LAUNCH:  How to Get Your Kids Through College Debt Free and Into Jobs They Love Afterward is wrapping up and is going to be available for pre-purchase this month.

(If you missed the cool story on why this book’s launch date was moved into 2016 and how President Obama was involved in that, you can read it here.)

Today I want to answer two important questions parents asked me in the days following that post.

#1  What’s the very best way for students to earn inexpensive college credit in high school?

There are multiple good ways to do this, but the ultimate best way is a taking college classes that are part of a state sponsored dual enrollment program.

What is a “dual enrollment program?”

In a “dual enrollment” program, high school juniors and seniors take real college courses on actual college campuses during high school and have those courses count for both high school credit and college credit at the same time.  Best of all, in many states the state foots the entire bill, allowing many conscientious high school students to walk across the stage at their high school graduation with up to two years of college already completed.  Amazing!

Why is “dual enrollment” better than “AP”?

Dual enrollment courses tend to be a far better bet for students than the AP courses traditionally pushed on students by high schools.  AP students can only earn free college credit if they do well enough on one comprehensive test administered at the very end of the course — something that, unfortunately, fewer than 50% of students nationwide are able to do.  The saddest thing about AP, though, is that some students will study hard and earn the highest scores possible on AP tests only to have their eventual college tell them:  “Oh, we don’t offer college credit for AP courses here.  We want you to take real college courses.”  Can you imagine how crushed students feel when they’re told something like this?

So why doesn’t every bright student load up on “dual enrollment” courses?

The answer is that in many areas of the U.S. “dual enrollment programs” simply aren’t well publicized.  In some school districts counselors are told to keep quiet about dual enrollment options because local school districts lose tax dollars when students leave the high school campus to take courses at the college down the road.

Without gentle help from someone like me, many parents will never find out about this option.  

The best time to start asking about dual enrollment programs is when your child is in December or January of 10th grade.  To find out whether your state offers dual enrollment programs, click here.  To read my recent post where I addressed the question:  “Does dual enrollment in any way deprive a child of ‘the full high school experience’?” click here.

If you’re a Minnesota parent with a child in 10th or 11th grade there’s excellent news for you — there’s still time to register for the free dual enrollment information session being held at the University of Northwestern in Roseville, MN on January 30, 2016.  The staff at UNW do a fantastic job explaining all the details about dual enrollment; the information you’ll receive there will be invaluable.  Register for the session as soon as possible, though; space is limited.

#2  Jeannie, we want to pre-order a discounted copy of your book LAUNCH:  How to Get Your Kids Through College Debt Free and Into Jobs They Love Afterward right away when pre-ordering opens January 18th. How do we do that?

My readers will be getting an early-bird opportunity to order discounted copies of this book through kickstarter.com starting at January 18th, 2016 at 6:00 am CST.  Write that date on your calendar because quantities will be limited.  You’ll be able to pre-order the book at JeannieBurlowski.com starting that morning.  I’ll be taking pre-orders through March 18th, 2016 — but order yours as soon as you can while the most deeply discounted copies are still available.

Imagine your child one day graduating college completely debt free, with an exciting job offer in hand.  

You and I together can get your child there, one small manageable step at a time.

Have you or your child taken classes as part of a “dual enrollment program”?  How did that go?  Comment below, or LIKE Jeannie Burlowski, Author on Facebook and comment on this post there.

Do you have friends who are currently parenting middle school or high school students?  SHARE this post on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin right now.