Dual enrollment: no, it isn’t a group of students who fight with large broadswords. Dual enrollment, or college in the high school, is just an easy way to be in college for a shorter period of time and spend a lot less money. There are summer, winter and spring classes offered by Penn State Beaver and CCBC. RCI, the Regional Choice Initiative, will pay for students to take one free class each year, which can total up to 12 college credits come graduation. In addition, if a student has a 3.0 GPA or higher, the fee for additional classes taken with the program will be sliced in half. You can actually graduate from high school and already have many college credits. “I’ll have [about 30 credits]. I’ll basically be a sophomore in college,” Senior Keith Braun said. Braun is one of the 304 students in the past seven years who has taken advantage of the opportunity. “I’ve gained $30,000 in education for about $5,000.” Braun has taken 10 classes in his high school career. Just by taking the four college classes offered by Freedom during senior year, up to 12 credits can be earned from CCBC. I have personally taken classes from Penn State Beaver as well, and I will be graduating with around 24 college credits. Some classes you take as a college freshman will be required courses, and you can actually take them now to get them over with for free. Penn State Beaver offers an Effective Speech class – a freshman requirement in most colleges. Many students have taken advantage of it, including Juniors Kevin Herbert and Evan Stiger along with Seniors Keith Braun and Emily Croll. “I feel like it was a great experience because I got to interact with people that I normally wouldn’t have, and it forced me to go out of my comfort zone. Speech class also helped prepare me for my career as a lawyer because I’ll need to be able to communicate my ideas in an intelligent way,” Croll said. You pay less than half the original price for a class and the credits will transfer over to the college you end up attending. Who wouldn’t want to have less college debt?