Free College Program

We are extremely proud to offer our high school students entrance into our Middle College program, where they can take free college courses for real college credit.

21st Century Charter School at Gary is proud to offer its high school students the opportunity to take real college classes at Ivy Tech Community College—Gary campus.

21st Century Charter School at Gary has a dual enrollment program with Ivy Tech Community College which allows our students to enroll in Ivy Tech classes and earn college credit while earning their high school degree.

21st Century Charter School at Gary pays for books, tuition, and transportation to and from the Ivy Tech Community College campus for all of our students. We pay for students to earn up to 60 college credits, or an Associate’s Degree.

Middle College is a collaboration between a high school and a college or university to allow high school students who qualify to enroll in and take college courses for credit.

Students take a combination of core high school courses and college courses to receive their diploma and graduate. The core classes are provided by teachers at 21st Century Charter School at Gary while the college courses are taken alongside real college students at the college.

One of the many goals of a middle college program is simply to expose high school students who might not otherwise enroll in higher education to the college environment, demystify the college experience, and get those students working toward degrees. This helps the students, many of whom will be the first generation in their families to attend college, to build a solid belief in themselves, to stay in school and succeed, and to integrate directly into college from high school.

The middle college program is available at all GEO Foundation schools. We partner with local colleges and universities. There, our students will enroll in college classes that will create a permanent college record and result in permanent college credit. Take a moment to think of every high school in your area, every so-called rich school, every so-called poor school, every public school, parochial school, private school and every other charter school. They were not asked to do this. But we were. Your children were.

Learn more about the kinds of classes your child can take at Ivy Tech HERE.