A student from Holden was able to start college with 81 credits

ORONO, Maine (WABI) - As the new school year gets underway at the University of Maine, a handful of students are saving time and money thanks to the work they did in high school.

Students like Brady Barker, of Holden, started taking college classes in his first year of high school.

As he begins his first year of college, he already has 81 college credits.

That’s well over half of the 120 needed for a Bachelor’s degree.

We’re told getting credits through the early college program isn’t just about saving money.

”And, also, I know a lot of people coming into my major the first year, so it makes it a lot more comfortable and a lot more familiar for me,” said Barker.

“They might even fit in an internship where they thought they might not been able to, they can study abroad, they can have a semester abroad, fit those kinds of things into their schedules, it also looks really good for scholarship committees,” said Kari Suderley from the early college programs at the University of Maine.

Copyright 2022 WABI. All rights reserved.