UA to give college credit to Basha High students

• University of Arizona will grant college credit to Basha High School students this fall.
• Dual-enrollment will be offered in two biotechnology classes.
• Cost for a 3-credit course is %24475%2C compared with %242%2C300 on the Tucson campus.
• Such partnerships exist in Tucson%2C but this is the first with UA in the Valley.

A three-credit-hour course at the University of Arizona costs more than $2,300. Next fall, students at Chandler's Basha High School can earn three credits from the university in a biotechnology class for $475.

It is the first time that any of the three state universities is awarding credit to students taking a class in a high school outside Tucson.

"It's an awesome opportunity for students to get the credits, especially those who aren't necessarily science majors ... or for science majors who use this as an exploratory course to further delve into the higher-level sciences," said Justin Waltman, who teaches biotechnology at Basha.

"And it's going to be a great money-saving opportunity."

The partnership at Basha could be the first of more, said Nadja Anderson, a professor at the University of Arizona who teaches molecular and cellular biology and directs the Biotech Project, an outreach to K-12 classrooms. She has talked with other school districts in metro Phoenix, but Chandler Unified School District is the first to take advantage.

"The price point was extremely attractive for us," said Meg Gianesello, director of instruction services in the Chandler district. "And that it's with the University of Arizona, we said if they were willing to branch out and support that, we were definitely on board."

Basha students in Biotechnology 1 can receive credit for the university course MCB 101, and those in Biotechnology 2 can get credit for MCB 102.

Students in those classes learn skills used in forensics, biology and molecular-biology labs. They study DNA technology and genetic modification.

Waltman provides his curriculum to UA. Basha students earn dual credit and receive a UA transcript. The credits can count toward a science degree or toward electives.

A range of students takes the biotechnology classes.

"There is a lot of interest in health sciences," Gianesello said. "Students might want to pursue medical professions."

This is the second dual-credit program in the Chandler district. High-school students can earn engineering credits from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. In the past, CUSD has had dual credit for biotech through the Maricopa County Community Colleges, but MCCC would never award credit for both levels of classes.

Neither Arizona State University nor Northern Arizona University has dual-enrollment partnerships with high schools.

Because ASU offers many programs for high-school students that are taught by faculty, the university is not focusing on other options, such as dual enrollment, according to ASU spokeswoman Julie Newberg.

NAU has had and will continue to have discussions about class credit for high-school students but is not planning dual-enrollment programs, said Tom Bauer, the university's director of public affairs.

For two years, students at 10 Tucson high schools have earned credit from UA. Some Tucson schools have as many as five biotechnology classes, and about 150 students have earned university credit, Anderson said.

"Because of the tuition cost, we don't require the students to take the course if they can't afford the cost," Anderson said. "We're working on finding scholarships. It's one of my Number 1 priorities."

In Tucson, UA graduate students work with high-school students.

"That's the kind of excitement we want in the classroom," Anderson said. "Whether it's grad students or undergrads, they are scientists by definition, and they are allowing the K-12 kids to see the excitement of research. ... What I really want for the students to walk away with is the idea that science is not scary, and that they understand science."

Because Basha High's biotech classrooms are so well equipped, high-school students could participate in real-time research, she said.

"I see it happening in Tucson, therefore, I think it can happen at Basha, too. It might take a year or two to get it going to its fullest extent, but I think we've got the first step: getting the kids dual enrolled."

Having grad students go into high-school classrooms provides a two-way benefit, she said.

"Grad students get an opportunity to talk about their research to people who aren't in the research world, and to make it understandable," she said. "They have to figure out how to do that. It's a great process. I've seen many of the grad students walk away much better at presentations after working with these classrooms."

The biotech courses at Basha, Anderson said, are "very high-level courses. Students learn high-level content and techniques that are not typically taught in a high-school classroom."

Gianesello would like to offer dual credit in more classes. The partnership with the biotech classes came about after Waltman attended a workshop, in which he learned that UA was willing to participate in a dual-credit program.

"Sometimes, it's just connecting with the right people through networking," Gianesello said.

The leader in the Valley in dual-enrollment classes has been Rio Salado College. This spring, 13 high-school graduates received associate degrees from Rio Salado. Twelve of those seniors were from the Tempe Union High School District, and one was from Xavier College Prep.

More than 6,700 students have earned high-school and college credit at the same time at 41 high schools that are partnering with Rio Salado, Rio Salado spokeswoman Annette Flores said.

The dual-enrollment courses are on site at each high school, but the students who graduated with associate degrees supplemented their in-person dual-enrollment classes with online college courses at Rio Salado.