Earning a Degree in High School -- An Idea Whose Time Has Come

Bravo to Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson for approving a charter for the Lawrence Early College High School for Science and Technologies, an early-college high school in Indiana. The curriculum at the school will be a combination of both high school and college courses, enabling some students simultaneously to earn a high school diploma and an associate's degree.

This is an exciting opportunity for teens who excel in school to knock out many of those boring and unchallenging first and second year college courses without paying excessive tuition and essentially wasting those early college semesters, giving those that go on to bachelors programs a head start and those that don't a degree that will give them a leg up in getting an entry level job out of school.

There are some questions, however. While a high school education is required to be given at no charge according to the state constitution, college courses do not fall under that provision. Will the State end up footing the bill for the students' tuition, ie. property taxes? Will the state and federal governments' financial aid programs be accessible? Will the students pay for the college portion directly? Will the college portion of the program be subject to federal and state standards, like high schools?

Let's hope the feds and the State stay out of the way on this one. In order to work, this program is going to have to have the ability to change quickly and without governmental interference. This is a good idea. Let's make sure it succeeds.