MARSHALLTOWN, IA – Most seniors have a goal of graduating from high school and moving on to the next step in their education or into the workforce. Twenty-three local seniors went above and beyond in their education and will be graduating in May from Marshalltown Community College with a college degree or certificate beforetheir high school graduations!. Eleven seniors from Marshalltown High School will be graduating with both their high school diploma and a degree from MCC. Mia Barajas, Olivia Brintnall, Liz Vargas, Kaci Uhde, Amanda Hoffman, Saylor Hempy, Carmen Araiza, Trevor Ketcham and Grace Fisher will all be earning Associate of Arts (AA) degrees from MCC. Emmett Bauder will receive a Welding certificate and Andrew Kochuyt will receive a Machine Tool & Die diploma. West Marshall’s Ashlynn Watson will be receiving her AA degree from MCC and Braden White and Quinten Ward will receive Welding certificates. Grinnell seniors Collin Hartz, Drryck Kingery and Chase Williams and GMG seniors Zach Krull, Cooper Langenbau and Colton Reed have all earned Welding certificates. East Marshall’s Olivia Terrones will receive an AA degree, and Isaiah Moore will earn his Welding certificate. South Tama’s Wes Upah will also receive his AA degree. At today’s MCC tuition/fee rate of $204 per credit, the value of an AA degree is $13,056. Best of all for students and their families, the high school pays for the credits because the students are also earning high school credit (dual credits) for the courses, which are taught by college instructors. That means seniors who received an AA degree can attend a four-year college or university in Fall 2020 having already completed their freshman and sophomore courses free of charge! In addition, research shows that students who complete an associate degree are more academically successful in their bachelor’s degree studies than students who go straight from high school into a four-year degree program. High school students and parents interested in learning more about Dual Credit coursework can visit with a high school guidance counselor or go to the Marshalltown Community College website and look at Academics > College Credit for High School Students.