NACEP Featured in National Dialogue about Concurrent Enrollment

NACEP representatives recently presented to an audience at the forefront of national education policy development. An invitation-only discussion organized by The American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF) on March 9, 2010 was attended by representatives from Achieve, the American Association of Community Colleges, the Association of American Colleges and Universities, Jobs for the Future, the National College Access Network, the National Conference of State Legislators, and the National Governors Association. In addition, a number of high-ranking officials from the U.S. Department of Education attended. The discussion focused on concurrent enrollment as a way to strengthen college and career readiness.

“From the national policy perspective, there is concern about the quality of the concurrent enrollment experience,” stated Jennifer Lerner, Senior Director at AYPF, “so providing an opportunity to learn about NACEP accreditation and the areas that are a part of the accreditation process was very valuable. I hope a takeaway was that the participants understood that dual credit opportunities are a perfect mechanism for K-12 and higher education to collaborate on a range of important topics including curriculum alignment, professional development, and college access and success. ”

NACEP President Ted Ungricht and Executive Secretary Adam Lowe were joined by Susan Henderson, director of College in the Schools at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, and John Fiset from Project Advance at Syracuse University in New York. They shared information about NACEP standards and accreditation, concurrent enrollment trends and challenges, features of the three programs represented, and potential future collaborations.