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When opened in New York City in September, it joined the district’s nearly 50 other , which offer students the opportunity to earn up to two years of credit toward an associate degree during grades 9-12. The City University of New York system reports more than , and another 2.5 million participate .

Dual-enrollment programs are open to students at all levels of academic proficiency, not just the certified high achievers. In fact, that low-income teens and others historically underrepresented in higher education experience the biggest positive impacts from being given early access to college work.

So, if so many of the teens who need early access to college-level work the most are earning credits before graduation, it begs the question: Is high school necessary?

Wouldn鈥檛 it make more sense to send students directly to community college after middle school, so they might begin accruing credits toward a college degree while covering the same material they would learn in high school anyway? 

I have written before about how my son dropped out of his highly ranked high school due to boredom but wasn’t allowed to enroll at CUNY without a diploma. Being able to head straight to college after eighth grade would have been a game changer for him, and for our family.

Cost, of course, is a factor. But New York state already has a that subsidizes a community college education for students ages 25 to 55 entering in-demand fields. Why not extend it to 14- to 24-year-olds? It should make no difference, from a financial perspective, if the state is paying for a student to attend a public high school or a community college. 

It could even end up saving money in the long run, as the student would substitute two years in community college for a traditional four-year 9-12 education. Students who transferred to community college after ninth, 10th or 11th grade 鈥� whenever they felt ready 鈥� would still spend fewer years in the public education system, while the academic result would stay the same.

But the benefits of allowing willing students to bypass high school entirely and enroll directly in community college wouldn鈥檛 be limited to bureaucratic economizing. For instance:

• It would help families save money on college expenses, if the student could transfer community college credits to a four-year college.
  
• 聽It would lower dropout rates for bored students like my son, and for the kid who is constantly asking, 鈥淲hy do I need to learn this?鈥� College courses are much better at demonstrating why students need to learn the material, especially if it鈥檚 part of a major they have chosen. And the earlier students commence their college career, the .听

• In the case of New York, it would help prevent brain drain. All three of my children attended college out of state. The situation likely would have been different if they鈥檇 been able to do two free years of community college as soon as they were ready for it, and then seamlessly transfer to a four-year State University of New York school.听

• It would bolster community college enrollment and help those schools remain sustainable. Currently, students attending CUNY’s Kingsborough Community College are high-schoolers. Under-18 students also make up the majority at five other community colleges statewide.
  
• It would make community college an equally valued and desired education destination, not something to be mocked. One of my son’s high school teachers would taunt his class that if they didn’t study hard, they’d end up “stuck” at the nearby community college. As a parent, I was furious with the demeaning description.

• If even a fraction of New York City high schoolers opted to go straight to community college, it would help with the looming mandate for smaller class sizes. With fewer students entering ninth grade, the district wouldn鈥檛 need to scramble as much for extra teachers and physical space to meet the 2027 requirement, and it would open up seats at some of the most coveted high schools to students who might have been shut out otherwise. Fewer families would leave for private schools, which would bolster the city鈥檚 public school enrollment numbers.

• Finally, over a lifetime, college graduates than adults with only a high school diploma. The earlier students can finish college and enter the job market, the earlier 鈥� and more 鈥� they can start earning.听

This doesn鈥檛 mean that students who wish to follow the traditional high school-to-college route should be blocked from doing so. Those who decide the community college route is not a good fit for them should have the option of returning to traditional high school, too.

But allowing teenagers who believe they are ready to skip high school for college to do so would be a win-win for students, for families and for the public school system at every level.

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