Ok, I know the word "scam" is harsh, but hear me out.
My kids go to John F. Kennedy High but I've been speaking with other kids throughout the DCC and it's clear that MCPS is really pushing dual-enrollment at MC as a desirable thing for MOST kids. They're not trying to be selective with those who want to be doctors and lawyers and could benefit from a truncated bachelor's degree runway.
AP and IB, which Kennedy offers, already give kids who want a more rigorous challenge and the potential for college credit a pathway. So it's not like dual-enrollment is the only way to get college-level experience. So the only thing that dual-enrollment seems to offer, is the opportunity to simultaneously earn an associate's degree while earning your HS degree. But it comes at the expense of being completely removed from your high school environment. But then again, the dual-enrollment kids are separated into a bubble at MC so they're not getting an authentic college experience too.
It just seems like MC is using MCPS as a way to suck up dollars and put butts in seats since community colleges are struggling with enrollment numbers post-pandemic. For more on this trend, read this article:
https://hechingerreport.org/its-just-too-much-why-students-are-abandoning-community-colleges-in-droves/
As I said, I know of a few kids who were pushed into dual-enrollment without consideration on if it was really best for them, and they ended up hating it. Several students found the coursework was too hard and they ended up missing the relationships and connections to their high schools. Which, duh. So why is MCPS pushing what to me, should be a very rare exception as the new norm?
Even in the instance where a student who's headed for say medical school, wants to do dual-enrollment to cut their time pursuing their bachelor's down so they can get to med school faster, what about the real-world tradeoffs of being out of step with people your age? This is obviously personal and anecdotal, but I needed all four years of my undergrad for my mental and emotional growth! Why are we shortchanging kids of that critical development time?
I won't even get into my frustrations that MCPS has basically made 12th grade a waste of time for most kids since they lower the requirements so much that most kids look to do half days their senior year....but that can be another thread or a separate track in this topic.