Getting a Jump on College with PSEO

As students enter their final years of high school, they make plans for the future. For those wishing to attend college, they may be looking at an average cost of between $50,000 and $150,000 to complete a four-year program. 

But, what if they can cut that cost in half? 

More and more students are taking advantage of the opportunity to earn college credits with the Post Secondary Enrollment Option (PSEO). The program has been around for decades with moderate participation, but technology has changed the way students learn. 

Thirty years ago, students had to attend classes at brick-and-mortar college campuses to earn their credits. Today, the majority of classes are provided online. 

Starting in 2020, primarily due to the pandemic, with the introduction of more capable online learning models, students became accustomed to the change. And, PSEO programs followed suit, seeing a noticeable increase in participants. 

Sophie Musselman 

For Sophia Musselman, a 2024 Lanesboro High School graduate, she figures she saved between $60,000 and $80,000 for her first two years of college. She is currently attending University of Wisconsin-Madison as a biology major on a pre-med track. 

She walked onto the Madison campus as a junior, unburdened by the expenses of her freshman and sophomore years, because she had already earned an Individualized Studies Associate of Science degree at Minnesota State College Southeast (Winona) at the same time she received her high school diploma at Lanesboro High School. 

Kensie Huesinkveld 

Kensie also earned her associate’s degree and high school diploma at the same time. She graduated in 2024 from Kingsland High School in Spring Valley, Minn., while also earning her two-year college degree at Riverland Community College in Austin, Minn. 

For Kensie, she began to pursue PSEO at the beginning of her junior year of high school. She took a mix of classes in-person at the Kingsland High School campus, such as composition, history and algebra. She also took credits online through Riverland Community College. She paced herself with two classes per semester at Kingsland and four classes online. 

She is currently majoring in social work at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall, Minn. Kensie estimates that if she would have not taken advantage of PSEO, she would have had to pay about $25,000 plus textbooks per year. That’s more than $50,000 that she saved by participating in the PSEO program while in high school. 

Chloe Berg 

In Chatfield, Minn., there’s a trio of siblings who have embraced the PSEO experience. 

Chloe Berg graduated from Chatfield High School in 2024, while also earning her associate’s degree from Rochester Community & Technical College. 

Her older sister, Isabelle, took advantage of the PSEO program when it was offered. And, now her younger brother, Javier, a senior at Chatfield High School, is on the same track with PSEO. 

For Chloe, it just made sense. She’s saving more than $40,000 for her first two years of college. 

Today, she is attending Winona State University, working on her major in social work with a minor in child advocacy. 

Jack Babinski 

A member of the Class of 2024, while attending Caledonia High School, Jack also earned a two-year degree from Minnesota State College Southeast (Winona). 

Today, he is studying mechanical engineering at Milwaukee School of Engineering. 

While he did save some money, he didn’t end up saving as much money as expected because only a small amount of his classes transferred. 

More PSEO Students 

The pandemic seemed to catapult students into the PSEO program simply by the nature of the online experience. Technology made it easier. 

According to Chloe Berg, her brother Javier has told her more students are signing on the PSEO program at Chatfield High School than in the past. Chatfield School District Superintendent concurs that “the numbers have nearly tripled since pre-COVID.” 

Fillmore Central School District Superintendent Heath Olstad is seeing the same trend. In 2019, they had three students taking PSEO classes. For the 2024-2025 school year, they have 28 students. “Years before students had to travel to college,” shared Olstad. Now they can take college classes online. 

At Rushford-Peterson High School, according to School Counselor Jenny Helgemoe, their total number of students that participate in PSEO has grown dramatically. For the 2023-2024 school year, 25% of their 160 students between 10th and 12th grade took advantage of the PSEO program, earning a total of 390 college credits, collectively. 

According to Grand Meadow Principal Matt Rosaaen, they went from five PSEO students in 2019 to nine in 2024 – nearly double. 

At Kingsland High School Principal Dana Simmons, “The pandemic forced schools and students to learn how to survive in a virtual environment. For some students, it actually turned out to be a preferred approach to education, and for colleges and universities, it allowed them access to even more students more easily.” From last year to this year, they saw a bump from 16 to 22 students participating in the PSEO program. According to Superintendent Scott Klavetter, in 2024, there were 10 Kingsland graduates who obtained their associate’s degrees while also earning their high school diploma. 

Rachel Udstuen, Superintendent of Spring Grove Public Schools, said they didn’t have any PSEO students up until 2023. Last year, they had five students in the program. 

Just down the road, Caledonia High School has seen a bell curve of PSEO participation. According to Nicole Ott, student services secretary for the middle school and high school, they had 22 in 2020, 31 in 2021, 46 in 2022, 48 in 2023, and 42 in 2024. For the 2025 class, they are back down to 30 students in the program. 

Lanesboro Principal Brett Clark shared that they currently have between 10 and 12 students participating in PSEO. Back in 2019, they had roughly two to three students, and it slowly increased each year. According to Clark, “Almost all of our PSEO students have chosen to work online as opposed to going to class with only a few exceptions.” 

At Mabel-Canton High School, Counselor Lana Hollar, shared data relating recent history of their PSEO participants. Back in 2019, they had seven students taking a total of 12 courses, collectively. For this 2024-2025 school year, they have 15 students taking a total of 25 courses. 

The colleges can probably concur with these figures. For Minnesota State College Southeast (Winona), Director of Communications Katryn Conlin shared some recent numbers. From the school districts in the Fillmore County Journal coverage area, they enrolled 105 students for the 2021-22 school year, followed by 104 for 2022-2023, and 119 for 2023-2024. 

“There are too many variables to suggest the pandemic and distance learning had an impact on PSEO one way or the other,” shared Conlin. 

For the 2023-2024 academic year, they had 18 PSEO students earn a credential. “Some of these are diplomas and certificates, such as welding and truck driving. Others earned associate degrees. This figure represents all of our (41) partner schools,” added Conlin. 

Students from school districts in the region have their pick of colleges in which they can earn credits via the PSEO program. Between Northeast Iowa and Southeast Minnesota, there are at least four college options. 

Financial Impact 

PSEO seems like it greatly benefits the students, but how does it impact the local school districts? 

This is a real concern that administrators and educators are facing. With on-going budget cuts, PSEO takes another slice of the pie. 

On one hand, these students are saving a ton of money from their investment in college. On the flipside of that coin, local schools are losing those dollars to the colleges. 

For Mabel-Canton, Lana Hollar shared the impact of the classroom dynamics. “We require students who are not in-person at the college, to be present in the high school building for their online classes. Online classes are still supervised by a high school staff member. That cost is covered by the high school.” They also have online classes that have been developed by their high school staff. “The PSEO kids and the general online kids are together in the same room for supervision. We have some periods of the day that have 20 kids taking online classes – PSEO and general. When this many kids are out of the standard in-person classes, it can potentially reduce a teacher’s full-time status,” shared Hollar. “Tests that need to be proctored are proctored by the high school staff. That cost is covered by the high school.” 

Lanesboro Principal Brett Clarke said, “High schools do feel the impact when the money goes to the college rather than the high school.” 

Nicole Ott, with Caledonia Public Schools, shared the same sentiment, “From the high school standpoint, the local high school is required to take on all expenses, therefore pulling critical resources away from the high school itself.” 

In Spring Grove, Superintendent Udstuen said, “State funding follows the student to the college.” 

It’s “very costly to the school district,” stated Fillmore Central’s Superintendent Heath Olstad. 

“We have an agreement worked out with the college so that we have shared funding with the college,” shared Grand Meadow Principal Matt Rosaaen, so they do not lose all of their funding. He estimates $700 per credit depending on the number of credits they choose to take. 

Ed Harris, Chatfield’s Superintendent, echoed what other administrators have been saying, “The rapid growth of PSEO since COVID is a growing financial challenge. Compared to pre-COVID, our costs have more than doubled from $89,000 to $186,000. High PSEO participation also takes away from the school’s ability to consistently offer certain classes. This is especially true in smaller districts.” 

For Rushford-Peterson, according to Counselor Helgemoe’s data, they’ve seen an increasing average cost per PSEO student to the school district. In 2021, the cost was $1,026. For the 2023-2024 school year, the cost was $1,940 per student — totaling $77,610 for the school year for 40 participating students. “Colleges have begun to offer more classes online since the pandemic and students have become more accustomed to this type of education. And, students like the flexibility of online classes,” shared Helgemoe. 

Kingsland Superintendent Scott Klavetter shared that the total revenue per student is approximately $10,000 per school year, “so that is the amount lost with each student who enrolls in PSEO. If a student is part-time PSEO, one-seventh of the funding goes to the college for each PSEO class the student takes.” 

Pros and Cons 

From a PSEO student’s perspective, it’s all good. 

“I love PSEO,” expressed Sophie Musselman. She was happy to save money. Sophie said it is an adjustment to independent learning, which “isn’t for everybody. Online classes are more self-regulated.” 

“If you don’t enjoy online classes then that can be a con, considering PSEO often involves online classes. If you like being at school and having familiar teachers then that can also be a con. Pros are saving money and having a more flexible schedule,” emphasized Kensie Heusinkveld. 

Along with saving money, Chloe Berg feels like PSEO definitely prepared her for taking college classes. She felt that she was getting the college experience while earning her high school diploma. 

Caledonia native Jack Babinski shared mixed reviews on PSEO. “I feel that there are great advantages to PSEO. At a school that doesn’t offer AP courses, it is the best way to take higher level courses. The PSEO program also opened up several career opportunities that wouldn’t have been available if I only stuck to high school classes. There are some disadvantages to the program. I didn’t spend much time with students my own age. I also had to drive substantially further but overall the experience was well worth it.” 

For school administrators, they echoed support for students saving money from their investment in college. 

But, they also feel the negative financial impact, and the more students enroll in PSEO, that only makes matters worse for the districts. 

At Caledonia Public Schools, Nicole Ott indicated that there “could be pressure from parents for student’s to take more college classes than they are ready for, taking students away from classes taught at the high school and also lack of someone there to help the students with homework with no face-to-face access with a teacher.” 

Lana Hollar, with Mabel-Canton, pointed out some other factors to consider. “When too many students are out of the in-person classes, it can make it difficult for a district to retain full-time teachers. Is online learning as good as in-person learning?” 

Another con shared by Kingsland Principal Dana Simmons was “the loss of solid student leaders on campus and in our classes.” 

Rushford-Peterson Counselor Jenny Helgemoe pointed out that, “Students may not be ready for the rigor of college. If they fall below a 2.0 or satisfactory completion rate, they can be put on academic probation before they even leave high school. If they don’t get their grades up, this can lead to academic suspension and impact their ability to attend college after high school.” 

Meshing the College & High School Experiences 

One concern that some parents and educators may have relates to whether students feel like they are missing out on their final years of high school while participating in PSEO. 

Lanesboro Principal Brett Clark said, “With every decision, there are tradeoffs. Certainly when you are not engaged in the day to day high school schedule and activities, you will miss out on some of the high school experience. Many of our PSEO students do their best to stay connected, but some of that is lost.” 

Nicole Ott, with Caledonia Public Schools, shared that “this depends on the student and how many classes they take. If they are only taking one or two classes, they are still involved in the day to day activities at school.” 

“There is a risk if the student chooses not to get involved in activities at their high school while attending PSEO,” offered Chatfield’s Superintendent Ed Harris. 

In Jack Babinski’s case, he said, “While doing PSEO, I didn’t end up spending much time at my high school so I didn’t spend much time with most of my classmates. I was still involved with my robotics team as a member of the high school program and a student mentor for the middle school team.” 

Kensie Heusinkveld, a 2024 Kingsland graduate, said, “While taking PSEO classes, I still felt connected with my classmates. I was not at school as often considering I had classes online that needed to be completed, but I still spent time with classmates. I was involved in FFA and National Honor Society, being an officer in both clubs. There were often times where I would spend time with classmates outside of school since we didn’t have classes all day.” 

For Chloe Berg, PSEO didn’t hold her back from participating in school activities. She was on the dance team, enjoyed track, and was a member of Chatfield wrestling team. Chloe also participated in band and choir at the high school. She said there can be a disconnect depending on if you are a part-time or full-time PSEO student. 

Lanesboro graduate Sophie Musselman didn’t feel disconnected from her classmates. She said she grew up on a small hobby farm outside of Mabel, and was able to be a part of FFA while taking PSEO. She also worked a lot through high school, helping out at the school daycare. “For me, I didn’t lose out on social aspects of high school.”