Miramar College and Mira Mesa High team up for proposed Early College pilot program

San Diego Miramar College is working with Mira Mesa High School to provide college credit classes to local students. The early college pilot program is expected to start in Fall of 2015.

“This program will allow high school students to experience a higher education. Our goal is to keep students motivated and encourage them to continue pursuing their education right here at San Diego Miramar College,” President Patricia Hsieh said.

This new pilot program is expected to provide academic achieving high school seniors from Mira Mesa High School the opportunity to experience a high quality education in college level courses at San Diego Miramar College. The program will also improve academic preparation of potential incoming students to San Diego Miramar College and transfer students to four-year colleges/universities.

Mira Mesa High School will recommend 10-15 students for the pilot program and a final decision will be made by San Diego Miramar College counselors and subject area experts.

San Diego Miramar College will then offer an early college experience to a total of five Mira Mesa High School students. They will apply to the program and be selected by Mira Mesa High School and San Diego Miramar College in Spring of 2015.

In the 2015-16 academic year, seats will be reserved and dual credit will be received in the courses below for up to five selected students who place at a college level in the Math and English assessments:

• Calculus (Math150-151) Fall and Spring semesters
• Political Science (PoliSci 101-102) Fall and Spring semesters

To be eligible to apply for the program, the student would need a 3.8 overall GPA, have completed honors pre-calculus with a B or higher or take and pass the Miramar Math Department challenge test to clear the prerequisite for Math 150. They will also need to take the English Accuplacer to assure they are ready to take on college level coursework. A program application would also need to be submitted.

The program was approved by the San Diego Community College District Board of Trustees on Oct. 9, 2014, and has been proposed to the San Diego Unified Board of Education. If approved, it would be the fourth joint project between the school district and community college district. The two districts currently collaborate on the MET program at Mesa College, the Early Middle College program at San Diego City College and the new STEAM Middle College at Lincoln High School.