Question on degree plan for getting Bachelors degree while graduating HS also

[EducationSeeker]

Hello, My son is 16 and will be a Sophomore in High School. He is looking at either doing a bachelors degree in Business, Computer Science, or possibly Engineering. Is there a way to also dual dual enrollment and graduate High School and a Bachelors degree at the same time? I realize this might be difficult to near impossible for a degree like Engineering. Also, which schools either Big 3 or other non traditional schools allow 16 year olds to attend?

Thanks,

EducationSeeker

[bjcheung77]

Yup, there have been several people on the board who graduated high school and college at the same time or very close, some have done the Associates and Bachelors one after the other.  It really depends on which degree/school you chose, there are several competency based degree programs available.  

I suggest Excelsior and TESU, for TESU your son can graduate after 18 with a waiver, here's a success story from someone on this board!  Associates through CLEP & dual enrollment at local college, TESU Bachelors in Comp Science, WGU Masters (MBA): https://modernstates.org/news/how-to-get...gh-school/

[rachel83az]

For Comp Sci, TESU is currently still one of the easiest and cheapest ways to get a degree. Doubly so if your son can do UL Comp Sci classes while in HS for free/reduced cost through a dual-enrollment program. You cannot actually enroll at TESU until you're 18, but he could theoretically apply as soon as he turns 18 and graduate with his degree a few months later after completing the capstone course.

For business, Excelsior does permit underaged students to enroll, so long as they're able to document that they have permission to do so from the local school board and that the college/university classes will count toward HS requirements.

[dfrecore]

It's easy to graduate with a bachelor's in liberal studies or Business, harder to do so in CompSci (due to higher difficulty of some courses); you probably won't be able to graduate with an engineering degree (and I wouldn't recommend it anyway).

You might want to rethink this, and spend the high school years getting as many Gen Eds as possible, as well as getting a thorough foundation in math and science, since those are going to be the things you want to look at for engineering.

Also, for engineering - you'll want to do this at a 4yr school, with all of the hands-on courses that will be the "fun" part of the degree, as well as having access to professors who can give Letters of Recommendation and Internships.

Your best bet - first, figure out which degree you want; second, figure out what school you want to go to (I'd suggest choosing 3 in your price range); and then third, lining up your DE courses so that they meet the requirements for all 3 schools. That way, you're covered no matter what you decide.

Working TESU's BACS degree plan for the major won't do any harm either - you can do it all via Study.com. Then, if he decides to go somewhere else instead, he'll have a great background in that coursework to make college a more sure bet. You can't go wrong with having all of that ACE credit under your belt in that major.

Also, keep in mind that if you were to graduate with a bachelor's in high school and then decided to get an engineering degree, many schools will charge more for that 2nd bachelor's and some schools won't even let you get one - they limit it to a single bachelor's degree. You want to give your kid MORE options, not fewer, with a degree.