Learn more about WNC’s Jump Start program

Courtesy Steve Yingling, Western Nevada College

Is your high school student ready to start college while still in high school?

Determining whether Western Nevada College’s dual-credit Jump Start College is right for your child depends on a variety of factors: academic readiness for college courses, individual maturity, time availability for studying and a willingness to work hard.

Now in its fourth year, the dual-credit Jump Start College serves nearly 500 high school students in seven school districts.

Besides providing high students the opportunity to earn up to an associate degree before they receive their high school diploma, it also allows them to save thousands of dollars and enter a four-year university, in many cases, with a sophomore or junior standing.

Some of WNC’s Jump Start grads have been accepted at University of Nevada, Reno; UNLV; Boise State; BYU; Cal Pol-San Luis Obispo; and Stanford, among others.

There are opportunities to learn more about the program during periodic informational meetings at local high schools or by contacting WNC.

This spring, qualified students will be notified by their high school counselor and invited to take placement testing.

For more information about WNC’s Jump Start College, go to http://www.wnc.edu/jumpstart-success/, phone Tricia Wentz at 775-445-3250 or email her at [email protected].

About Jump Start

Western Nevada College’s 2017 graduating class included a record 79 high school students representing Carson, Churchill County, Dayton, Fernley, Pyramid Lake, Silver Stage and Virginia City high schools, as well as Oasis Academy and Nevada Virtual Academy. Two additional Jump Start students graduated during summer 2017.

While many of these high school juniors and seniors need an adjustment period in their foray into college courses, nearly all of them are stepping up to the challenges. During the 2016 fall semester, there was a 96.3 percent pass rate for students enrolled in Jump Start courses and a 94.3 pass rate in the 2017 spring semester.

The highest governing official in Nevada supports the program and wants it to be available to all high school students in Nevada.

Gov. Brian Sandoval signed Senate Bill 19 into law last May, requiring all Nevada high schools to provide dual-credit opportunities to their students. Looking to educate more Nevadans — at an enhanced pace —  to spur economic growth, Sandoval wholeheartedly showed his support for the dual-credit program.

“Here, Western Nevada College has it dialed in and it’s frankly a model for the rest of the state,” Sandoval said. “This is something that we need to franchise out across the state of Nevada to ensure that all students have those opportunities to get those great jobs.

“Western Nevada is ground zero for this New Nevada that we’re all so proud of and that we’re looking forward to. This is one of those days that I’m so proud, so proud that I’m a Nevadan.”