College Challenge

News and Updates—Fall 2009

College Challenge enrollments for Fall 2009 set a 10 year record, up from last Fall's 10 year record to 339 students. Congratulations to those students for taking the College Challenge!

Those 339 students are also the first students to be eligible for the new College Challenge Success Award, a $400 one-time, non-renewable award for students who earn at least a "C" in a College Challenge course and enroll at ISU in the fall (and spring) following their high school graduation.

For information on the College Challenge Success Award, click here.

The ISU College Challenge Web site has a new look and approach. If you have not been here in awhile, take a look around. There is a "landing page" for each participating high school.

We hope that we can add material from our partners on each of their pages to help parents and students understand the advantages of College Challenge.

All College Challenge teachers received the College Challenge classroom poster this fall. To see an example, click here.

News and Updates—Summer 2009

For 30 years, Indiana State University's College Challenge Program has partnered with Indiana high schools to offer college credit in dual enrollment classrooms to offer a challenging curriculum to high achieving students as well as to help reduce the cost of a college education.

Last summer, Governor Daniels signed the double-up law that requires all high schools to offer at least two dual credit classes for their students. With this new emphasis on dual enrollment partnerships, ISU is renewing its College Challenge Program.

Tom Steiger, ISU Professor of Sociology, has been named Director of the ISU College Challenge Program. Tom joined the ISU faculty in 1987 after completing his Ph.D. at the University of Illinois. His mission is to grow the ISU partnership with Indiana high schools to offer dual-credit courses. Professor Steiger reports to the ISU Provost, Jack Maynard. This summer Professor Steiger has been meeting with ISU faculty to develop a creative and rigorous process to help high school teachers meet the qualifications to teach college level courses.

Message from Tom Steiger—
Director, College Challenge Program

ISU is responding to the State of Indiana's new emphasis on raising the academic bar and reducing the cost of a college education. A first step is my appointment as Director of the College Challenge Program. I am undertaking a thorough, 360-degree review of our current program. I'll be visiting our partner schools in the fall to met you and to listen to your ideas about how to make our partnership better. I also hope to begin new partnerships.

Indiana high schools are challenged by the double-up law to offer a minimum of two dual credit courses. According to a study of superintendents by the Indiana Dual-Enrollment Study Group, the biggest challenge for high schools is qualified teachers. ISU is working to develop a creative and flexible means to qualify high school teachers for dual-enrollment classes.

Our Web site contains all the forms students or teachers need to enroll in or apply to teach a College Challenge course. We will be making some changes to our Web site. Among the planned changes is a special "Spotlight On Our Partners" that will feature College Challenge partners. We hope to have our first spotlight on the Web site soon after school begins.

I'm looking forward to meeting our partner teachers. I am anxious to hear about your experiences in College Challenge classes. If you have ideas, questions, or just want to talk College Challenge, feel free to contact me.

Thomas Steiger
Director, College Challenge Program
Professor of Sociology and Women's Studies
Indiana State University
1-800-GO-TO-ISU
Thomas.Steiger@indstate.edu