Yakima Students Recognized for ASU College Credit Pathway

The Yakima School District celebrated a historic milestone in college access on June 11, as students from A.C. Davis High School and D.D. Eisenhower High School were recognized for completing a first-of-its-kind Arizona State University pathway that brought college coursework into their own high schools.

The Arizona State University AA Degree Candidates Celebration recognized students from the district’s first and only ASU cohort. Through the one-cohort partnership between Yakima School District and Arizona State University, students earned college credit through ASU while completing high school graduation requirements. Students who complete the full pathway requirements earn an Associate of Arts in Professional Studies through ASU. Others leave with substantial progress toward college general education requirements.

“This graduation feels very special,” said Dr. Trevor Greene, Superintendent of Yakima School District. “These are students who may not have had this opportunity without a program designed to provide college access and wraparound support inside their own high schools. We have families who will see their children achieve something they may not have imagined four years ago, and that kind of opportunity can change a life for generations.”

The ASU pathway was developed to address a persistent access challenge for students ready for college-level work but unable to easily leave the support of their high school campus. For some students, barriers such as transportation, books, fees, parking, family schedules, and unfamiliar higher education systems can make traditional college-credit pathways harder to reach.

Washington’s Running Start program offers valuable college-credit opportunities for many high school students. Dr. Greene believed Yakima needed an additional route for students whose lives made travel, cost, or unfamiliar systems more difficult to manage.

Dr. Byron Gerard, EdD, helped initiate the program as Yakima School District’s former Executive Director of Career and College Readiness.

“The goal was to level the playing field for students who desired college credit opportunities but did not want to, or could not afford to, leave the support of the high school campus,” said Dr. Gerard, now Assistant Superintendent of Student Support Services for Texas’ Round Rock Independent School District.

“This pathway offered low-income and often first-generation college students an opportunity to earn a two-year associate degree within their four years of high school, without disconnecting from the support and services their public high school provides.”

Through the program, Yakima high school teachers supported students in ASU-aligned courses while students earned both high school credit and college credit. The model allowed students to remain connected to extracurricular activities, campus events, intervention supports, school culture, teachers, counselors, and classmates while progressing toward a college credential.

“Traditional Running Start would have been very difficult for me because of challenges I was facing at home during most of high school,” said Zaid Munir, an Eisenhower High School student who is set to earn his Associate of Arts through ASU during the June ceremony. “I would not have had support in attending, so ASU opened opportunities for me to study from home.”

“What we developed had not been done before by any other school district in Washington,” Dr. Gerard said. “It provided students in Yakima with a never-before opportunity to earn a cohort-focused two-year college degree while never leaving the support of their high school campus.”

For Yakima School District leaders, the ceremony represents both a celebration of student achievement and a larger example of what becomes possible when college pathways are designed around access. “This is more than a graduation ceremony,” Dr. Greene said. “It is evidence of what becomes possible when opportunity is brought close enough for students to reach. These students earned a college degree while remaining in the high school setting where they had teachers, counselors and staff supporting them every step of the way.”

Yakima School District serves more than 15,000 students across the Yakima Valley, including a student population in which more than 82 percent are Hispanic or Latino, over 77 percent are from low-income households, and more than one-third are multilingual learners. For district leaders, the ASU-YSD Associate Degree Pilot Program reflects a commitment to removing barriers and expanding opportunity for students whose access to higher education may otherwise be limited by geography, transportation, cost and/or unfamiliar systems.

The ASU model is sunsetting after this original four-year cohort. District leaders say the decision is unrelated to student success or the value of the model. Yakima School District has since continued expanding early college access through broader College in the High School and dual-credit opportunities with local and regional post-secondary partners, including Central Washington University and Yakima Valley College.

This article reflects Goal #5 of the Yakima School District's Strategic Plan: All students will successfully navigate the critical transitions in their schooling, and will graduate from high school prepared for college, career, and post-secondary experiences. To learn more about our strategic plan, visit ysd7.org/strategicplan.