You've probably heard about high schools offering college classes early to help students get a jump. But what about high schools that move onto a college campus and let students experience college life a little early?
Students are saving money, earning an associate's degree and getting more one-on-one attention all before their 18th birthday.
Amelia Rollison is headed to class, advanced math, and if you're not an engineer or business person --- the stuff on the whiteboard might make your head swell. But that's college, right? Not necessarily. Amelia is in high school.
Grapevine-Colleyville ISD's Collegiate Academy is actually on the campus of Tarrant County College. Ninth graders are in a special building. For them, their first two years are an accelerated high school experience and their last two years are deep into college classes, alongside college kids, on the main campus.
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"The first day we were introduced it was like, 'What are you? What major are you in?' And I'd be like, 'I'm still in high school,' and slowly, little by little, I wouldn't mention that part anymore,'" said Jonathan Sanchez, a student in the school.
With a lot of hard work, two years of college are knocked out here for free. It gets a lot of attention. But once they're here, they say it's the small class sizes, and they get a chance to change to a course that matters.
"I wanted to be a doctor. Everyone goes in wanting to be a doctor, and I was like, 'You're in school for 8-10 years.' I was like, 'I'll just chop off two years from that.' And then after I went through the school, I was like, maybe being a doctor wasn't the end goal and I pivoted to business," said Katherine Rummell, a recent graduate.
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She graduated top of her class, was automatically accepted to Texas A&M and now works for Fidelity Investments.
"This is the kinda school that attracts those that are highly motivated and want to do something for themselves," she added.
But that's not everyone here --- far from it in fact.
"We have ASPIRE (highly gifted) students, National Honor Society students from middle school but we also have students who struggle and the model was really created for students who aren't normally seen in higher ed into higher ed, but yet everybody in between," said Bobbe Knutz, principal of Collegiate Academy.
But high school is about so much more than academics.
"The big school, like the population, just like the culture of that, I would definitely say I sacrificed that, but I still feel like I can experience that by going to football games and dances if you get an invite," said Rollison. There's prom, UIL soccer, speech, and theater.
You're not promised a degree and you have to put in the work. But last year, 88% of the students here put in the work and walked out with one.
