Ever wanted to take a specific course that King does not offer? Looking to go into college with an advantage over other students? Want to take some post-secondary courses to put on university or college applications? If yes to all or some, the Dual Credit program is for you!
Dual Credit is a program at many high schools across the Greater Toronto Area that offers a high school credit and a college credit at no cost to grade elevens and twelves. There are many courses to choose from ranging from cooking to forensic psychology. The course takes place at a real functioning college campus with other Dual Credit students. Students receive free materials (uniform, tools, etc.), textbooks, and a college student ID. Using that ID you can access resources that the college offers to students. For example, at George Brown College, students can use the gym, library, and even check out computers and iPads to take notes and do work on. Students will also receive free TTC bus tickets to commute from school to the chosen college and back. If a student takes a Dual Credit course each semester in both grades eleven and twelve, that is a whole semester of college credits they earned for free.
The next window to apply for Dual Credit classes is semester two, but Dual Credit classes are run in both semester one, two, and during the summer. When applications open, students can pick up a Dual Credit form from the Business Office (A12) and select their top three classes from the master list posted on your grades google classroom. Students can pick what college they wish to attend as well. Dual Credit classes take place one day per week and are about three hours, but it may vary depending on the class. Three hours may sound long but the professors understand that most students can not sit still and take in information for that long so there are breaks throughout lecture based classes.
Personally, I have taken three Dual Credit classes, Forensic Psychology, Criminal Justice and Society, and I am currently taking Introduction to Psychology. While I am not looking to go into college, I do want to work in the field of criminal psychology, which King offers very few courses for. I took Forensic Psychology last year because I thought it would be interesting and I absolutely loved the course and the format of post secondary education. The course offered engaging lessons in a topic I am very interested in. Post secondary education also relies on fewer assignments and tests, instead of having an assignment every class and hours of homework every night, there are usually 3-5 assignments and 2-4 tests and sometimes a final exam over the course of a whole semester. Dual Credit courses, as well as post secondary courses in general, go into a lot more detail and depth of a subject compared to high school courses. My Criminal Justice and Society Course went into a lot more depth about the Canadian judicial system than King’s Canadian Law course does.
Students who are interested in Dual Credit classes must also keep in mind that they may miss some of their high school courses to take a Dual Credit and they are responsible for keeping up with missed work in those classes. Dual Credit classes also take attendance and it is mandatory, if you are absent for a class they will email the teacher in charge of Dual Credits (Ms. Mohamed) who will then email you asking where you are. Dual Credit classes are a huge privilege to take and can not be missed or skipped without a valid reason.
If anything in this article caught your attention, consider applying for a Dual Credit Course. They open many different options for careers, give you a taste of how post secondary courses run, and are a lot of fun.
Attached below is the list of Dual Credit courses for the 2024/25 year.
https://sites.google.com/tdsb.on.ca/dcmastercoursechart
