Dual Credit courses are college-level courses that are offered to high school students which provides the opportunity to fulfill college credits. While at the same time, students earn credit(s) in their high school career, not all colleges accept Dual Credit course credits.

For this school year, students are offered new Dual Credit courses. Some of the Dual Credit courses being, Hawaiian 1 DUAL CREDIT and Hawaiian 2 DUAL CREDIT.

For the school year, 2020-2021, the number of Dual Credit courses will continue to grow and will be available for any student to take. New courses that are available to enroll in are Music Theory, Introduction to Microeconomics and much more. *Listings of available Dual Credit courses can be located in the Course Catalog*

Similar to Advanced Placement courses, Dual Credit courses are weighted on the 5.0 Grade Point Average scale. Taking a Dual Credit course(s) can replace the Advanced Placement requirements to fulfill that is needed to obtain Kamehameha’s Honors Diploma.

For Dual Credit courses, I can see the benefits that these college-level courses have to provide, and, amazingly, it’s a great opportunity that Kamehameha Schools has to offer. However, something I have to ask the students that choose to take Dual Credit courses is:

What are your intentions? 

From personal experience, the understanding that I am provided with demonstrates two things: students take Dual Credit to benefit the future of their college career. On the other hand, students enroll in Dual Credit courses due to genuine passion. 

Shelbee Edayan, a current junior at Kamehameha Schools finds that Dual Credit to be beneficial to all students. Saying, “There is no harm in taking Dual Credit courses- These courses, in the long run, are going to help jump-start my college career”.

Kalehua Kalili, a current junior at Kamehameha schools says, “I believe that students should be able to take more than three dual credit classes- College is expensive. We as students should be grateful for the opportunity to take these classes and to have our grades to our secondary education”.

After asking students for their opinions and allowing them to share their insight, it has changed the perspective I had for Dual Credit. Now, I can see the light that these rigorous courses have to offer. However, I do feel that some students do exploit the advantages that Dual Credit has to offer.

Pre-requisites: I strongly feel that a new requirement needs to be established when asking to enroll in these courses. For instance, a recommendation from a teacher who has the appropriate authority to give you the recommendation. A conversation with the Dual Credit teacher(s) would also be needed (explain your intent for it enrolling in the course), as a follow-up; this will benefit the students and teachers: finding out more in-depth what the course is about and clearing up any questions/misinformation.

Limiting Dual Credit: As of now, the current school year, 2019-2020, Faculty has decided to create a limit on how many Social Studies that a student can take during the summer school year(s). To take more than a year’s worth of Social Studies credits, students need to complete forms and wait for eligibility for the course. I question: why can’t we use this form of reasoning and apply it to Dual Credit courses? My intention here is to provide all students with a fair opportunity to enroll in these college-level courses.