Post-Secondary Students in Ohio Get a Jump-Start on College

At age 21, Korinn Lillie is living her childhood dream. A creative thinker and art enthusiast, the former UC Clermont student is studying graphic design and working with major Cincinnati architecture companies in UC's world-renowned Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP) cooperative education program.

Brittany Brand's work in geology has led her to exotic locales, such as Iceland, The Bahamas, Chile and Hawaii, as well as to many places in the southwestern United States for field research. Brand, a former UC student, has a master's degree in geology and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in the field - though she just graduated from high school in 1999.

Though their individual paths diverged, their starting points were the same: each was a Post-Secondary Enrollment Option, or PSEO, student at UC. And they're not alone. More than 100 students who enrolled in UC's freshmen class this year had already earned sophomore or junior status through PSEO, according to 2005 statistics from UC's Office of Institutional Research.

So what exactly is PSEO? It's a program that allows high school students to earn credit for both high school and college graduation by enrolling in university courses at the state's expense. PSEO provides a challenge for students ready to jumpstart their post- secondary education and assist those who never showed interest in high school, all at no cost to Ohio families. Countless summer programs, educational trips abroad and dual enrollment deals that award college credit cloud the meaning of Post Secondary Enrollment in Ohio, a specific program established by the state legislature. PSEO was formed in 1989 by the state of Ohio and was originally only open to high school juniors and seniors. In 1997 eligibility was expanded to include students in grades nine through twelve in all public, non-public, and non-chartered schools, says Tricia Renner, who wrote an article outlining the program for the Ohio Association for Gifted Children and coordinates the PSEO program at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio.