As the cost of a college degree continues to climb, students are taking a closer look at alternatives to the traditional four-year university track.

Alvin Community College has seen enrollment in its dual credit program soar, climbing by more than 340 percent in the last 10 years, according to 2006-16 enrollment figures. Last year had the strongest enrollment yet with 1,749 high school students who enrolled at ACC.

“Its killing two birds with one stone,” said Marilyn Dement, vice president of student services at ACC. “You’re meeting the fulfillment for college and your high school requirements as well. Especially for the students who are more driven, they don’t have to wait another two-three years to start their postsecondary career.”

The dual credit program allows students to take college-level courses—freshman English, U.S. history, economics, biology, etc.—to earn credits toward a college degree while also fulfilling requirements for a high school diploma.

To be eligible for dual credit, students must meet certain benchmarks on the ACT, SAT or State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness exam. Students who have not taken those exams can take the Texas Success Initiative, or TSI, assessment.

While dual credit students do pay college tuition, the savings are significant. Dual credit students at Pearland ISD pay $178 per course, and Alvin ISD students pay $25 per credit hour.

In addition to the reduced tuition cost, dual credit students are exempt from paying student fees.

“It saves them a lot of time and money. The kids can leave and have their freshman and sophomore years of college finished before they ever get out of high school,” said Kathy Windsor, executive director of federal and special programs at AISD.

Dual credit enrollment has grown significantly at PISD since Turner High School opened in fall 2014. While all PISD students have access to dual credit, Turner produces the most associate degree earners in PISD.

About one-third of students who graduate from Turner High will also complete an associate degree program, half of all students will have more than 30 college credit hours and nearly all students will have career certifications, Turner High School Principal Jennifer Morrow said.

“[Turner] was designed where we have this specialty program here. We’re the only college option in Pearland ISD,” Morrow said. “They’re getting real college credits from a real college professor on a real college transcript.”

Next door in AISD, Shadow Creek High School will begin offering evening dual credit courses beginning this fall to give students more flexibility. Alvin and Manvel high schools also offer dual credit courses.

ACC attributes its strong dual credit program to its partnerships with local school districts in its service area.

ACC has two full-time college advisors working on-site at PISD high schools and three advisors at AISD high schools, including Shadow Creek High School. Advisors work with students to select courses toward a workforce certificate or associate degree while also coaching them on enrollment at a four-year institution.

ACC also sends its college lecturers to each high school to teach classes on campus, making dual credit courses more accessible to all academically capable students.

“[Dual credit] makes a student more marketable to a university. If a student is able to come in with a dozen or 30 credit hours, that’s able to show that the student is already able to do college-level work,” Dement said.