Middle College offers D214 students head start on business careers - Apply by March 22
Some of High School District 214's most vital work these days involves breaking down barriers to students' post-high school success and, in place of those hurdles, charting new opportunities and roads to productive futures.
One such example is this year's launch of District 214's Middle College at the National Louis University (NLU) Business Program. This program is designed exclusively for seniors committed to completing a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration at National Louis University following graduation from District 214.
The program, supported in part by a significant alumnus contribution to the District 214 Education Foundation, is currently giving 19 seniors a best-of-both-worlds opportunity as they divide their time between attending National Louis classes virtually and completing their District 214 courses. Students start their day with National Louis classes and return to their home schools in the afternoons, allowing them to participate fully in after-school extracurricular activities.
The Middle College concept offers numerous advantages, including enormous financial benefits. Participating students will earn a full year of college credit by the end of their senior year, allowing them to complete their National Louis degree in just three years - effectively cutting their family's college costs by 25 percent. This also potentially puts them in the job market a year earlier than they would have arrived otherwise.
In addition, Middle College gives D214 students the opportunity to adjust to college-level work while enjoying access to support from both high school and college staff. Sometimes that means helping students develop life skills that will serve them well in any setting.
For Wheeling High School senior America Munoz, Middle College meant balancing a fall semester course load of four high school classes and three National Louis courses: business, psychology and English. Munoz describes the workload as challenging but says support provided by National Louis helps. While her college classes have been offered exclusively through Zoom, National Louis also provides weekly, in-person support sessions for the District 214 Middle College cohort.
Munoz was drawn to the program by a career interest in marketing, which she believes will offer her a chance to apply her creative talents in a business setting. So far, she said, the Middle College experience has reinforced that interest, thanks in part to a professor who, she said, "really makes us think about real-life situations."
Munoz also said that initially she was devoting a disproportionate effort on her National Louis courses, to the detriment of her high school work, because "I didn't want my college opportunity to go to waste."
With time and support, she's made appropriate adjustments, as have her classmates.
"A lot of them were scared to reach out to professors," Torrisi said. "We worked with that and explained that if you have a question, you should be emailing. The feedback we've gotten from National Louis is that our students are incredibly engaged, even in this online format. And the students' grades speak to how hard they're working."
Torrisi also lauds the university's work in welcoming D214 students, saying,
"National Louis has done an incredible job of making these students truly immersed in the college experience, even in the midst of a pandemic. They've hosted activities on campus that, even if virtual, make our students feel like college students and create more of a connection with them to their professors."
D214 is currently recruiting for its second cohort of students. If your student is interested in the Business and NLU Middle College program please apply by March 22, 2021 at apply214.org.