What the Kids Are Saying - Growing Up in Santa Cruz

By Mikayla Shults

Are you in high school and want to take Cabrillo courses? Maybe you didn’t even know that was an option. I spoke to people in high school and college to see if they knew what was being offered to them. The people included in this page were less than half of the originally interviewed people. So many high schoolers have no idea that they could be taking college courses or don’t understand how they could benefit from it. The good thing is everyone knew that they could attend Cabrillo for FREE after high school. So let’s get this straight. If you are in any high school in Santa Cruz county, you can be taking Cabrillo classes. If you go to a regular public school, talk to your counselor and check out the Cabrillo website. You can even take summer courses! If you are interested in taking as many courses as possible, independent studies could be the perfect thing for you. At a school like Oasis, located on the Cabrillo campus, you can take up to 12 credits of college courses. Whichever path you choose, classes will be free. If you need to fulfill a requirement but your school doesn’t offer any classes that you would enjoy, explore all of your options at Cabrillo. Say you need to take a science class but it’s only three credits at Cabrillo.

When that class is put on your transcript, it will turn into ten credits! Now you have extra credits than required. What can that lead to? Early graduation. You don’t need to be the most intelligent person in your grade or even your friend group to try out a Cabrillo course. You’ll find that it’s not much different than a high school class. The only difference is that you will be meeting new people and earning extra credits. I’ve taken short, four-week courses over the summer and semester-long courses. They have both been favorable compared to any other class at high school. Here are some dual enrollment experiences from teenagers all over the county.

For more information on the Cabrillo Promise Program visit: https://www.cabrillo.edu/financial-aid/cabrillo-promise/

For more information on Dual Enrollment visit: https://www.cabrillo.edu/high-school-students/dual-enrollment/

Bridger

Junior | Coast Redwood High School

Dual enrollment is when you’re in high school, taking a class/semester at a college (like Cabrillo). A semester at Cabrillo is worth one year of high school. I’m not currently enrolled in a college, but I imagine it is infinitely helpful to grasp college and future education. Dual enrollment is your go-to if you want to get into a four-year right out of high school. I would recommend it to myself and my friends and everyone. I would love to see my friends succeed and exceed, and this might be the way. I heard you need at least a 3.5 GPA in high school to get into Cabrillo free afterward. I don’t know for sure.

Reese

Junior | Oasis High School

I am dual enrolled and so far it has been a really positive experience. All of my professors have been really great and I love how I can do classes that my high school does not offer. I took cultural anthropology last semester and it was recommended by another teacher. I was a little wary at first but I ended up loving that class and it was so much fun! I had no clue what anthropology was before taking that class and now I might even want to study it in college. I am super interested in it so this semester I am taking a biological anthropology class.I would definitely recommend dual enrollment to my friends. I enjoy doing college classes so I would hope they would too. I have been told that it is free after graduating and it’s also free to high school students doing less than 12 credits.

Kyla

Senior | Scotts Valley High School

I have heard about dual enrollment but I don’t know much about it. Although I did hear that if you take a Cabrillo class during high school then it doesn’t apply, but I don’t know if that’s true or not. (It’s not true! Any course you take at Cabrillo counts for high school and college at the same time.).