Mesa Public Schools analyzes college credits among students in district

The Mesa Public Schools governing board discussed the state of its high school students earning college credits via different ways during its Feb. 25 meeting.

District Superintendent Dr. Paul Gibbs gave a presentation showing the percentage of engagement in college credit courses year over year. Engagement rate was calculated by the percent of students who participated in at least one course in the spring in which it was possible to earn college credit.

There are three ways in the district for high schoolers to earn college credits, Gibbs said.

“At Mesa, there are three primary means of earning college credit. One is by AP Exam. Or through the international baccalaureate, which we currently have at Westwood. Or through dual-enrollment programs with Mesa Community College,” Gibbs said. “In those programs, our teachers at Mesa register as faculty members at Mesa Community College. Students who enroll in their classes also enroll at Mesa Community College to credit for that course.

For AP credit engagement, the percentage was 12% for the district in 2024-25, which is the same as it was the previous school year. For international baccalaureate, which is offered at Westwood, the engagement percentage was 17% which was a 4% increase over the previous year. And for MCC dual-enrollment in the district, the engagement rate was 28%, a 4% increase over the previous year.

Gibbs also presented the board with information about the percentages of the district’s roughly 18,000 high school students that are taking classes that could result in college credit.

“About 3.2% of high school courses that our students take are AP,” Gibbs said. “About 5.3% of the classes at Westwood are IB. About 12% of our classes are dual enrollment. Put together, about 15% of the classes we’re taking are classes where students have the opportunity to earn college credits.”

MPS Board President Marcie Hutchinson asked about any potential roadblocks for students taking dual-enrollment classes. Associate Superintendent Dr. Matthew Strom said there could be several.

“One of them is the prerequisite skills needed and so when you see the culmination of experiences that kids have in college-bound classes at the high school level, please know that there’s a lot of work that goes into that at the kindergarten through 10th-grade level,” Strom said. “The second one is financial obstacles, which continue to be something that students need help overcoming in the district. There’s been multiple attempts from the state legislature to get dual enrollment money to community colleges.”

MUSD — also known as Mesa Public Schools — is the largest public school district in Arizona and has six high schools, nine junior high schools, 55 elementary schools and 18 choice and success schools.