Findlay City Schools is one of the many districts in the state of Ohio that provides its students with the opportunity to take College Credit Plus (CCP) courses, in which the student receives high school credit as well as college credit. These courses are able to be taken by any FCS student grades 7-12 with the expectation of retaining the academic requirements to participate.

These courses can be taken either at the high school with a Findlay High School teacher, at the actual college campus, or online. The CCP program stretches out to numerous colleges in the area.

“Students can take classes at pretty much any college,” CCP coordinator Ms Jefferson says. “Most of our classes we offer here are through Rhodes.”

Jefferson explains that the majority of FHS CCP students take classes through Rhodes State College, Bowling Green State University, University of Findlay, and Owens Community College.

Taking advantage of the program offers bountiful benefits.

“Participating in CCP has the benefit of getting college credit in high school which can help by working ahead and getting some classes out of the way,” Jefferson gives an example.

FHS offers CCP communications which counts towards the typically required communications credit at most colleges. Other courses can count towards elective credits so there are less classes in general to focus on in college.

“Getting college experience by taking some of those courses can kind of get your feet in the water so you can see what to expect in college,” Jefferson contributes.

Taking CCP classes have many benefits; however, there are a multitude of risks in taking these courses.

“If you are not successful in the class, that goes on your high school and college transcript so it’ll stay with you forever,” Jefferson points out a risk.

Traditionally, the state of Ohio covers the cost of the class with the assumption that the student will pass the class. If this is not the case or the student withdraws from the class, the student will be solely responsible to cover the cost of the class.

Signing up for the courses is not as simple as signing up for regular high school classes. There are other steps that need to be completed.

“The first step that you need to do is to get the intent form completed and submitted by April 1,” Jefferson mentions.

The CCP intent form can be found on the Findlay High School website under Counseling and Academics in the College Credit Plus tab. The intent form must be completed before the deadline or the student will not be able to participate in the program the following school year.

Under the College Credit Plus tab, there is also a presentation regarding the other information about the program.

“If you are taking a class here at Findlay High School, then you would just register for the class as you would normally for any other class,” Jefferson begins about scheduling.

If the class is taken on the college campus, a meeting with a school counselor will be conducted in order to fit the travel time and other aspects of the class into the FHS schedule. Online classes are not put into school schedules and are done on the student’s own time.

After scheduling for the CCP classes, the student must apply to the colleges that the classes are provided through and must be accepted into the colleges. Before the application, the student typically takes a test called the Accuplacer in order to show their academic knowledge and ability.

The Findlay High School website under the College Credit Plus tab is a great resource for additional and more detailed information.
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