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members have written in about their experiences in the Postsecondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) program, 

They wrote in not as former PSEO students, but as parents and faculty members.

Both liked PSEO -- which allows high school students to take classes in college -- but they also voiced concerns over students' maturity level.

Joel Reiter, a 59-year-old computer programmer from Cambridge, said his two home-schooled children took PSEO classes at 

, which accepted all of their credits. They ended up finishing Bethel in three years instead of four, which saved them a quarter of the cost of their college education.

He said PSEO was "a good experience for both kids. ... Both were well prepared to enter Bethel."

Kris Bigalk, a faculty member in English and creative writing at 

, said her stepdaughter went to Hopkins High School and took PSEO classes at Normandale her in her junior and senior years. She ended up enrolling there, and then moved on to the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Bigalk said most of the credits transferred to Boulder, and that her daughter's studies at Normandale "prepared her very well for the challenging curriculum at Boulder."

As a professor and relative of several PSEO students, Bigalk said, she's seen many PSEO students succeed -- and some fail. Some of it is due to a lack of maturity:

Bigalk said that parents who are thinking of having their children take PSEO courses should first enroll them in a college-level study-skills and orientation course. Parents should also make sure they get a privacy waiver that allows them to keep track of their children's grades and attendance.

She said she's not sure whether her younger children will participate in the PSEO classes:

Education News

On Campus Blog

Alex Friedrich

Author

A couple of MPR’s Public Insight Network members have written in about their experiences in the Postsecondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) program, which I reported on earlier. They wrote in not as former PSEO students, but as parents and faculty members. Both liked PSEO — which allows high school students to take classes in college —…

Why maturity is important when high-school students take college classes

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