Spartanburg, South Carolina High Schoolers can earn credit towards nursing degree
A $120,000 grant was awarded to The Mary Black College of Nursing and the College of Science and Technology at the University of South Carolina Upstate to enhance classroom equipment and anatomy and physiology courses at Dorman High School.
Dean of the College of Science and Technology Jeannie Chapman, Ph.D., expressed excitement about the grant. "With the funds we have secured, we are going to purchase a very large Anatomage Table—think of it as a large iPad with anatomical virtual images loaded on it," she said. "We will also be able to support some of the teaching staff who will be offering these courses and subsidize their travel to the high school."
Students who complete the courses will receive credit toward a nursing major. Dean of the Mary Black College of Nursing Shirleatha Dunlap, Ph.D., explained that those who take additional dual credit courses like English, college math, and computer science will enter USC Upstate as second-semester freshmen. "They are taking the exact same college-level course that the students here at the university take, taught by the same faculty, and they use the same textbook and resources. So, the students will be getting the same quality coursework as college-level students," said Dunlap.
Dunlap emphasized the importance of making the pilot program accessible to students who may not have the same opportunities as others. "Financing higher education is really expensive for students and their parents. Dual enrollment credit comes at a much lower cost to those families," she said. If the program is successful, USC Upstate plans to expand it to other high schools in the area.
The pilot program is expected to launch Fall 2025.
The college noted that this partnership would not be possible without the support of OneSpartanburg Inc.