Earn your credits however you like! The next school year means new opportunities to take advanced courses and receive college credits from them.

Many of the Advanced Placement classes already taught at Beaver Area are now being offered with CHS optional status. This means that you can choose to take selected classes for standard credit at Beaver Area High School, or you can choose to take the same class as a college-in-high-school (CHS) course sponsored by either Carlow University, University of Pittsburgh, Robert Morris University, or Seton Hill University.

CHS classes earn students credits that count towards high school graduation requirements and can be transferred to some universities for college credit. Although it is not guaranteed everywhere, most colleges will accept the credit if the student scores a “C” or better in the class—and pays the sponsoring university’s CHS fees.

While CHS classes require students to pay an enrollment fee, the cost of taking the course in high school is much lower than the cost of taking similar courses in college. Most CHS course costs range from $200–$300.

Students who do not want CHS credit but still want to take the advanced course may do so and will still learn everything in the same classroom and receive the same experience as students who are taking a class for CHS credit.

Many Advanced Placement (AP) classes will be offered as either AP classes or CHS optional classes. But no matter which type of credit you choose, you’ll still be taking the same class. Both AP and CHS courses charge a fee for enrollment, paid either to the College Board or the university sponsoring the CHS class.

If you are wondering about which option is better for you, contact the admissions offices of the colleges you are interested in and ask them. Some colleges are more likely to accept AP test scores, while others are more likely to accept CHS transfer credits. It completely depends on the school, and taking the time to ask can save you money later on!

For the English department, AP Language and Composition, AP Literature and Composition, and Public Speaking are going to be offered as CHS optional.

Precalculus, which is a new math course that will be offered next school year, will also be CHS optional. Precalculus combines and replaces Trigonometry and Elementary Functions. AP Calculus AB and AP Statistics also will be optional CHS credit classes.

This school year introduced CHS U.S. History Since 1865, which is sponsored by Carlow and will continue to be taught by Mr. Hazuda. This class is meant to replace AP U.S. History which will no longer be offered at Beaver Area. Other new CHS social studies options include AP European History, AP U.S. Government and Politics, and AP Psychology.

AP Biology is a new CHS science option, and CHS Physics and CHS Intro to Computer Science will continue to be taught by Mr. Hanlon.

CHS Latin and CHS Spanish III and IV are three foreign language options for receiving college credits while in high school.

There will also be some updates to GPA calculations to correspond with these changes.

Accounting I, Precalculus, Public Speaking, and Spanish III and IV are graded on a 4.5 scale, while all of the others previously mentioned will be graded on a 5.0 scale. This means that students taking a CHS or AP course not listed here will receive a greater boost for their grade point average.

Additionally, CHS/AP classes are more challenging than regular level classes, and they offer a look at what’s to come in the future if college is your next step.

If you are currently a freshman or a sophomore looking to take on something new (with a slightly heavier workload) then CHS or AP classes might be for you next year! Speak with your teachers or your guidance counselor for more information or advice, and you can also check out the websites for these organizations.