CHS Seniors Eligible to Complete First Year of College While in High School

Through a partnership between Chariho High School and the Community College of Rhode Island, seniors are now eligible to earn up to one-year of college credit at CCRI for free when they take AP classes at the high school.

With this partnership, students can take Advanced Placement classes at Chariho High School and then get credit that is transferable over to CCRI for up to one year’s worth of credit.

“Advanced Placement classes gives high school students a taste of what college will be like in terms of pacing and the rigor of the curriculum,” said Superintendent Ricci, who helped bring this partnership together.

In order to take advantage of receiving a full year of college credit at CCRI, students must enroll in Advanced Placement (AP) classes that equivocate to 30 CCRI credits, pass the classes, and get at least a 3 or better on the AP exams. (In order to find out which classes are available, use this document. You can calculate the credits and notice the number of CCRI credits in the parenthesis. In order to get a full year at CCRI, a student needs to complete 30 credits.)

If students obtain the full the 30 credits, it would equal to one year of CCRI credit. This means that the following year, they would start college at CCRI as a sophomore, even though it would be their first year at college.

However, students do not have take the whole “package” that Chariho and CCRI has provided for them. Instead, they are still able to take AP classes and transfer to other colleges based on what the College Board will accept.

“They are transferable from the high school to CCRI. But if you go somewhere after, I believe they will follow you,” Ricci said. “There are other ways to get to that number other than the way we’ve designed it.”

As a new incentive this year, Chariho has offered to refund the exam fee of $92.75 to any student who gets a 3 or better on the AP exam in the Spring. So, students can take advantage of this by receiving college credit essentially for free.

Superintendent Ricci explained, “For some people money is a big deal and here is a way to do it for free. So we want as many people as possible to take advantage of that.

“I think it’s a great opportunity. I hope a bunch of students do it,” Ricci said.

If students are interested they should discuss this at-school opportunity with their guidance counselor and their families.

Chariho High School picture is courtesy of Matthew Gouvin.

CCRI Knight Campus picture is courtesy of CCRI.

Picture of credits explanation is courtesy of Chariho Regional School District.