Terry Young spent his senior year of high school taking not only high school courses, but college courses, too. And the McDowell Montessori student was also holding down a job.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was definitely a challenge and hard to maintain that lifestyle, but I\u2019m better prepared for the future,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Young was one of a group of 94 high school seniors who graduated in June from the M3<\/sup> College Connections program with a head start on higher education. Many of the students attended a graduation ceremony honoring them June 7 at 51ÁÔÆæ\u2019s Lubar Entrepreneurship Center.<\/p>\n The seniors from 15 Milwaukee Public Schools completed up to 21 college credits during their final year of high school through the program, a partnership that includes Milwaukee Public Schools, Milwaukee Area Technical College and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The three partners established the M3<\/sup>(pronounced M-cubed) College Connections program in 2019.<\/p>\n Students can take college-level courses in English and mathematics at MATC and educational psychology and ethnic studies courses at 51ÁÔÆæ. Students also have the option of taking nursing or science courses at MATC.<\/p>\n 51ÁÔÆæ\u2019s educational psychology course focuses on helping high school students develop the tools they need to succeed in college. That course has expanded to help high school students select majors and figure out future careers.<\/p>\n \u201cThis program is a win for everyone,\u201d said Phyllis King, associate vice chancellor of academic affairs at 51ÁÔÆæ, told the group gathered at the graduation ceremony.<\/p>\n The program can also help students save money as they start higher education. At an average cost of a college credit of $300, this year\u2019s students have saved more than a half million dollars in tuition expenses, according to MPS Superintendent Keith Posley.<\/p>\n Since the pilot courses started in 2019, 529 high school students have earned 6,756 credits, according to M3<\/sup>figures.<\/p>\n Posley, King and Vicki Martin, president of MATC, spoke to the graduates, along with other students who have been involved with the program.<\/p>\n Jacarrie Carr, an MPS and 51ÁÔÆæ alum who is CEO of the nonprofit Jacarrie\u2019s Kicks for Kids, was the graduation speaker.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The seniors from 15 Milwaukee Public Schools completed up to 21 college credits during their final year of high school through the M-cubed College Connections program, a partnership among MPS, Milwaukee Area Technical College and 51ÁÔÆæ.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":835,"featured_media":121823,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[174],"tags":[],"section":[122,126],"display_categories":[115,116],"related-coverage":[334],"uwmnews-feed":[167],"class_list":["post-121821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","section-campus-community","section-campus-news","display_categories-top-story-secondary","display_categories-top-story-section","related-coverage-m-cubed","uwmnews-feed-alumni-association"],"yoast_head":"\n