People say high school is the best four years of one's life. "Have fun!" they say. "Get involved! It only happens once in a lifetime!" For as long as I can remember I have associated the traditional high school experience with Friday night football games, pep rallies, friends, fun, classes, dances, parties and the last years of being "a kid." High school was supposed to be four years of fun.
Although I dreamed about the "traditional high school experience," I also dreamed about college. I was more excited to start college than high school. So when I found out about the New Century Scholarship program I couldn't believe it. The program sounded too good to be true!
The New Century program combines college and high school by enabling high school juniors or seniors to take college classes at the high schools and dually receive college and high school credit. Unlike AP classes, concurrent enrollment classes guarantee college credit to a student with a "C" or above. The state of Utah also promised that students who finished their associate's degree by the summer after their senior year of high school would receive a 75-percent tuition scholarship to the in-state, public university of their choice.
