In Students and Spending, an infographic, we look at the distribution of spending per student and make it easy to see which states get more, and which states are getting less.

Click here to view the full size version.

In reality, the classes you take in high school can improve your life, especially consumer science courses. Sooner or later, everyone is going to need to create a budget, shop for a car, buy a house, or even make investment decisions. The skills you learn in these courses will help you make good decisions about your future.

Basic Money Management

There are some fundamentals to money management that everyone should know when they graduate high school. Understanding how to set financial goals, setting and sticking to a budget, as well as building up a savings account are crucial to a students financial success. All of these topics are covered as part of our Consumer Skills course. Imagine being able to learn all about money management by taking courses from an online high school!

Understanding Consumer Credit

Students who know how to use consumer credit are going to manage their personal credit more effectively, as well as making better decisions with credit cards. Credit card debt is the most common form of debt in America, while many people commonly misuse their credit cards and increase their long term costs. The consumer skills course not only teaches students about credit cards, it also educates them on other types of consumer lending, such as car loans and leases.

High School Consumer Science Courses

We offer a range of high school consumer science courses, including:

• Consumer Skills
• Financial Math

If you’re interested or would like to learn more, give us a call or use the live chat feature on any page of our website.

Here is the list of 5 Classes that Every High School Student Needs to Take.

1. Strategies for Academic Success

It doesn’t matter if you plan to continue your studies after high school or not, the skills you’ll learn in Strategies for Academic Success can translate directly into the workplace and classroom, making you a more productive employee and student. You’ll learn about effective study skills to help you retain more information and use time management tips to maintain a productive schedule, and avoid distractions.

You will also gain valuable note-taking skills and other abilities to help you remember key information. As part of the Strategies for Academic Success, you will learn how to adapt to the online learning environment and the unique opportunities it presents, enabling you to be more productive in a digital learning environment.

2. Economics

Understanding economics has always been a concern, and now with the current economic crisis, it’s even more important. This high school Economics class will teach you how economic performance is measured, the role of government in the economy, and the basics of monetary and fiscal policy that shape our everyday lives.

Economics isn’t just about the big picture though. This course delves into microeconomics and the individual decision making process, teaching about supply and demand curves, as well as what affect prices have on them. Most importantly, you’ll learn about the global economic challenges that we’re facing today, and will continue to face in the future, in a way that relates to everyday life.

3. Computer Applications – Microsoft Office

Microsoft Office is a staple of the modern workplace and you’d be hard pressed to find a company that doesn’t rely on it heavily. It’s estimated that 95% of all workplaces use Microsoft Office in some form, so being proficient with the Microsoft Office suite, including Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Outlook, is arguably one of the most important skills that a high school student can learn.

The Computer Applications – Microsoft Office class available online will teach you how to work with and produce your own material, using the entire Office Suite. In this course, you will learn the ins-and-outs of Microsoft Office, providing the foundation for future success in a variety of office environments.

Along with the basics of text formatting and email, you will learn how to create flyers and brochures within Microsoft Word, schedule events and send email from Outlook, build presentations in Powerpoint, and use advanced features within Office like Mail Merge.

4. Intro to Speech and Communications

There are few skills as valuable as the ability to effectively communicate in a professional manner. This course is divided into two sections: communication and speech. These will teach you about effective communication, and help develop your public speaking skills.

Understanding communication is one of the key components to success in the professional world. The communications portion details the elements, principles, and characteristics of human communication to make you a more effective communicator. Not only will you deal with interpersonal communication skills, but you’ll also learn about group and organization communication.

Another big part of communication is public speaking, one of the most common fears. The speech portion of the course will teach you how to research and incorporate supporting materials, as well as how to write and deliver a public address. You’ll present both an informative and persuasive speech, and you’ll also learn how to analyze speeches, identifying what the speaker did to make it great.

5. Career Planning and Development

This course is designed to teach you the most critical components of job hunting, landing a job, your rights as a worker, and what you are expected to do once you’re hired. The skills you’ll learn in this one semester course will prepare you for a successful career in a position where you can excel.

Knowing what jobs interest you and how to search for them, is an important part of shaping your career. In this course you’ll survey some of the fields in which you could potentially work, and learn about the expectations of professionalism as they apply to the workforce. You’ll also pick up some pointers on how to build an effective resume, how to interview well, and what documents you’ll need to prepare as you enter the workforce.

What are you waiting for?

Now that you’ve seen the top 5 classes every high school student needs to take, why not enroll in an online high school and start learning! Park City Independent offers these 5 courses, as well as a complete high school curriculum, all delivered through our virtual classroom environment. Contact our admissions department to learn how you can take these 5 classes as well as the rest of your high school curriculum online.

Credit Recovery For Rapid Course Advancement

If a student is removed from class midway through the semester, they will most likely lose any credit they may have received for the coursework completed. This can be a disheartening setback for many students, requiring several months of additional schooling.

Many online schools offer a credit recovery program, allowing students to test through the course topics they have already mastered, and then turning their focus on the new concepts. This test-out method helps students receive credit for what they know already, and it provides an opportunity for rapid course advancement.

Open Enrollment and Flexible Class Scheduling

The disciplinary steps leading up to an expulsion or suspension often take weeks, if not months. Because of this, students are rarely removed from classes at the start of the school year, or semester. Instead, students are kicked out during the middle of the semester and have difficulties in finding another school to enroll them on short notice.

Online high school classes are self-paced, and students are allowed to enroll and start classes at any time throughout the semester. The enrollment process takes less than a day, and your academic counselors can provide a personalized graduation plan, so you only take the classes you’re going to need to graduate.

Fully Accredited Diploma and Transfer Credits

You don’t need to start over when you enroll in an accredited online school; you can transfer your current high school credits over, and they will count towards your graduation. Park City Independent is a regionally accredited school, carrying the same type of accreditation as your local public schools. As such, your credits can transfer back and forth between your local school, and they will all count towards your graduation requirements.

Getting kicked out of public school doesn’t have to result in the end of your high school graduation goals. Instead, you should look to a flexible, accredited alternative that can get you back on track to graduate. Recover your lost high school credits and take courses at your own pace with the Accredited Online High School from Park City Independent.

We looked specifically at workers who failed to complete high school, and those who earned at least a Bachelors Degree and the results show a dramatic contrast.

In 2009, the median wage for full-time male workers was $49,990, and $37,260 for females. In 1990 male workers earned just $30,730 per year, and females earned $21,370. That might seem like a huge difference in wages, but if you were to adjust those same prices for inflation you’d see that, in 1990, males earned the current equivalent of $50,450, and females earned $35,080 per year.¹

As you can see, the real wages (adjusted to the 2009 CPI) have stayed fairly constant over the past 20 years, with males earning slightly less today, and females earning slightly more. Despite the consistency of wages across the entire labor force, workers with lower education levels are being paid less, while workers with higher educations are being paid more.

Males who had a Bachelors Degree or higher earned 38.8% more than the median worker in 1990, and 42.9% more in 2009, while workers who hadn’t completed their high school diploma or equivalent earned 31.9% less than the median wage in 1990, and 43.9% less in 2009. The wage gap between those with higher levels of education and those without is growing larger and larger each year.

The same trend is evident for female workers.

While the median wage for all females has risen since 1990, effective wages have actually decreased for most workers with a High School Diploma or lower.

The increase in wage for workers with a Bachelors Degree or higher is also outpacing the increases for workers without a diploma at a drastic rate. In 1990, male workers with a Bachelors Degree earned 104% more, and in 2009 they earned 155% more than those without a diploma.

So What Does This Mean To You…

Failing to complete your education now will cost you increasingly more in the future. If you think that you can earn more now by dropping out of school and working full time, think again.

… And What Can You Do About It?

It’s never too late to finish your high school diploma, in fact, Park City Independent offers an Online High School Program For Adults. Our online high school is fully accredited by the same organizations used by public high schools throughout the nation. We can help you graduate high school and get out there earning what you’re really worth!

Sources:
¹ U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Digest of Education Statistics, 2010.

Students Can Work At their Own Pace

High school students all learn at their own pace, some students understand a concept immediately, and other students have a hard time picking up new material. This difference in learning speeds tends to inhibit the progress of faster learners, and it leaves other students behind. An online high school program allows students to complete their course material at their own pace, allowing them to fully master each topic before moving on to the next section.

This self-paced independent study model helps struggling students to maintain good grades, and it enables other students to speed through their courses at a much faster rate compared to a public school setting. Online high school students have the flexibility to spend as much or as little time on each course as they wish, while at least meeting the class requirements.

The Virtual Classroom Helps to Avoid Distractions

Students are surrounded by distractions in a traditional high school. It’s easy for a student to lose focus with even the slightest disturbance, and teachers are often unable to reacquire the classes attention when they get disrupted. These distractions limit teacher productivity and cause unnecessary delays to the student learning experience. A virtual classroom environment keeps students on-task and maintains their focus on coursework instead of what else is going on with their neighboring students.

Graduate Earlier than Traditional High School Students

A traditional high school student will spend about 6 and a half hours at school each day. With an hour of lunches and transition time, as well as another one or two hours of busywork and homework time during classes. In reality, 2 to 3 hours of each school day are wasted.

Taking online high school classes eliminates much of this wasted time, and it actually allows students to graduate months, and even years before their class. If a student were to study from 8 AM to 2 PM, 5 days a week, they could complete their entire high school diploma in 20 to 24 months. Throw in a few week-long vacations and a 2 month summer break, and these students are still nearly a full year ahead.

Graduate Sooner with Park City Independent

Our program is designed to meet each students specific needs, and you can create your own schedule to graduate high school as fast as you’d like. Submit your information through the contact form on the left, or call one of our Admissions Specialists at (888) 727-2498

High school accreditation is not federally mandated. It is a nongovernmental process used to evaluate programs for standards in education.[i] Many states, such as Utah[ii], however do require all of their public schools to be accredited by a recognized independent organization. Other states like Michigan set standards for accreditation through the State Board of Education but may also use school accreditation authorities recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.[iii]

Of course these organizations provide more than just a stamp of approval, they also provide a method for other schools and agencies to recognize and acknowledge that certain educational standards of quality have been met. When parents choose an accredited online high school for their home-schooled children they know that the credits earned will be accepted at public and some private high schools. This is important if they were to choose to transfer or return back to a brick or mortar school during part of their four year educational process. A high school diploma for an accredited school is also required at many universities and colleges.

It’s also important to remember that educational recognition is also required for many jobs. Many employers in the US will only hire individuals with high school degrees earned from accredited schools with certification from a recognized accrediting agency.[iv]

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM), a federal agency, aggressively works to keep diploma mill degrees from the federal workplace. “OPM has provided ongoing guidance to federal departments and agencies… making it clear that so-called ‘degrees’ from diploma mills will not be accepted for purposes of qualifying for federal positions, for student loan repayment, and for purposes of paying for employees to obtain college degrees.”[v]

Parents are encouraged to ask questions about the accrediting group when looking for accredited online high school. Not all accreditation agencies are recognized by federal or state educational departments, so it’s important to ask for the name of the accrediting agency and contact your state Department of Education to see which groups are recognized. Legitimate, quality online schools will be happy to share information about their accreditation with you.

Recognition is important, but quality is essential. When an online high school takes the time and effort to become accredited, they are also showing a level of professionalism and diligence which usually is an excellent indicator of the education they will provide. In the long run, taking your time to find an accredited online homeschool program for your high school students will pay off in many ways.

[i] – http://www2.ed.gov/students/prep/college/diplomamills/accreditation.html
[ii] – http://www.schools.utah.gov/curr/accred/default.htm
[iii] – http://www.lansingmichiganhomes.com/Schools/Glossary%20of%20Education%20terms%20from%20MDOE.pdf
[iv] http://www2.ed.gov/students/prep/college/diplomamills/accreditation.html
[v] Ibid

Hundreds of thousands of students consider dropping out of school each year. These students often think they can get ahead now by earning a full-time wage, and that all they need is a few years head start. The harsh reality is that many of these students are giving up on their chance for a successful career.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics produces a series of earnings reports that include a breakdown by education levels, and the results are astounding. These reports evaluated the weekly earnings of adults 25 years of age and older, and they provide a clear picture of why it is so important to complete your education.

Click Here to View the Full Graphic

What These Reports Show

These reports show a significant increase in wages based on a workers education. Workers who never completed high school typically earn 30% less than workers who completed their high school diploma, and 60% less than a worker who completed a bachelors degree. Completing your high school diploma will earn you an additional $4.62 per hour, An associates degree will earn you $7.12 more per hour, and a bachelors degree will net you an additional $17.07 per hour when compared to a worker without a High School Diploma.

How We Determined These Numbers

We evaluated the July 19, 2011 report on Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, highlighting the wage reports from the second Quarter of 2011. The full report can be found Here. We’ve based our calculations on the median weekly wages of workers based on their education level. We calculated the hourly wage based on a 40 hour work week, and the yearly wage based on 50 working weeks per year.

Not all online high schools are equal, but there are several things that separate the best programs from the rest. Let’s take a look at the features which define quality programs.

Online High School Accreditation

Although private and online high schools are not federally mandated to have accreditation, many universities and employers only recognize accredited programs. Many state and federal jobs require this certification as well as certain federal programs granting student loan repayment.[ii] Accredited schools must meet and maintain established standards; parents can be assured that a level of educational quality will be maintained. It’s a good idea to check the accrediting agency and make sure it is recognized and legitimate.

Individualized Education Approach

Every student is unique with their own set of interests and needs, and that is true with both brick and mortar and online high schools. Many parents will opt out of a public or private school because they feel their child’s individual needs are not being met, so it’s important to avoid online high schools which use a ‘cookie cutter’ approach. Remember, one size does not fit all. Quality programs offer individualized curriculum with prerequisites and a variety of electives.

One on One Student Support

Online programs are designed to identify a student’s strengths and weaknesses so they can get the extra help and practice they need in specific areas. In a traditional school, some students get frustrated and bored after they quickly grasp a concept and have to wait for the rest of the class to catch up. Other students fall behind if they are slow in understanding even one area, and in some cases they never catch up. Of course computers have their limitations, so it’s important to look for an accredited online high school program with live support. The best programs provide qualified teachers to work with students and guide them through these important educational years.

Certified and Credentialed Staff

Quality programs have quality teaching staff that are certified and credentialed. Don’t be afraid to ask about their qualifications.

Graduation Plan

Look for an online high school that begins with a graduation plan. This helps both parents and students know how many credits they need to graduate. Programs that offer credit recovery and credits for experience can help students graduate sooner and reduce costs. Also ask about scholarships and grants.

Extensive Selection of Courses

A superior online high school program should offer a wide variety of classes, not just prerequisites but also exciting electives. Look for interactive math programs for Algebra 1 & 2, Geometry, Pre-Calculus, and Trigonometry. Virtual science labs give hands on experiences in Biology, Earth Systems, Physics, and Chemistry. Look for a complete series of English and History courses as well as a variety of World Language classes. Elective classes should include keyboarding classes, art, photography, physical education, and consumer skills.

Take your time and research Online High Schools and be assured that your child will receive an excellent high school experience

[i] – http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=91
[ii] – http://www2.ed.gov/students/prep/college/diplomamills/accreditation.html

Let’s look at 6 keys ideas for online high school success.

#1 - Pick an Accredited Online High School. – Only consider schools certified from accreditation groups which are recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and your state department of education. Many colleges and universities as well as employers only recognize diplomas from accredited schools. Many government jobs and federal college loan repayment programs will only honor graduates from accredited high schools.[i] (This applies to both brick and mortar and online schools.) Accreditation will only be given schools which meet and maintain a set standard of educational excellence.

#2 - Set up a Learning Schedule that Works with Your Time Requirements. – Traditional schools work on a fixed schedule. They start in the morning and end in the afternoon, five days a week. Unfortunately that does not provide the optimal learning opportunities for many students. Kids who travel or face certain health challenges may not fit into the allotted learning times and they miss school. Other kids learn better in the evening or if there are breaks between learning sessions. Some students need more time for one give topic and less for another. Online high schools offer flexible schedules that can be customized to work with each individual student.

#3 - Look for a Variety of Learning Modalities. Many studies have been done over the last two decades showing how individual students learn in different ways. A study comparing teaching styles in two universities, one in the United Kingdom and one in South Africa, demonstrated how mismatched learning and teaching styles can discourage students and lead to underachievement. Online high schools use different teaching techniques including streaming lectures, interactive online programs, virtual labs, reading, and one-on-one support to help every student can excel.

#4 - Provide Consistent Parental Support – A study from the Michigan Department of Education stated that “decades of research show that when parents are involved students have higher grades, test scores, and graduation rates.” They also found that family participation in education was twice as predictive of students’ academic success as family socioeconomic status. Home-schooled students who use online high school programs and have parental support have the technology, expertise, encouragement, and support they need.

#5 - Choose a Curriculum that is Motivational and Fun. – Learning should be interesting and enjoyable. The best accredited online high schools weave computer games into world language and other courses, offer a variety of interesting electives, and use a variety of virtual learning experiences.

#6 - Participate in Community Homeschool Groups – High school is a pivotal time to develop social skills. There are many homeschool groups which provide bully-free environments for a wide range of activities including sports, arts, spiritual, and social events.