PARIS – A group of Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School students will graduate in June with more than just a high school diploma. They will also graduate with some college credit.

“It’s a great success story,” said Barbara Livingstone, director of the early study program at Central Maine Community College in the Western Maine University and Community College Center in Paris.

The OHCHS Aspirations Program, that was started in January, allowed 37 high school seniors to take one course at the college this spring and receive full college credit for their effort.

Fifty percent of the course is paid by the Department of Education. The other half is paid for by the participating college. Students must meet grade-point requirements or get approval from their principal.

“We had wonderful success with it,” Livingstone said. “The feedback I get from the instructors is that many of these students have really done wonderful. They’re succeeding.”

Juliann Stauder, OHCHS Aspirations program coordinator, said the students signed up for a variety of entry-level courses ranging from introduction to psychology to the very popular early childhood education and college-level writing.

“It’s a great opportunity for kids to get a jump-start on their college career,” Stauder said. The program is modeled after the highly successful Lewiston High School program that has been in place for years.

“We’re really proud of these kids,” Stauder said. “I get great reports. One instructor didn’t know he had high school kids in his class.”

The students who are accepted into the program take college courses at the nearby University Center. “It is a college class. There are no special arrangements made for these kids,” she said.

Although a few students participated last fall, the program officially got under way this January, Stauder said. Out of the 50 or so students who expressed an interest, 37 enrolled.

“It was kind of different at first,” said Liza Chase, a senior at OHCHS who hopes to attend Becker Junior College in Massachusetts next fall to major in marketing.

Despite three-hour classes, sharing a classroom with some students who were much older than the high school seniors, and still keeping up with the demands of high school, work and home, Chase said the experience was a real plus for she and her fellow students.

“It wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle,” she said of the seemingly tough schedule.

“We want it to grow,” said Stauder, who was hired as a facilitating coordinator, and works as a liaison between the college and high school.

Stauder said the program is not just for students who know they are attending college after graduation. “Sometimes kids don’t think they would be right for school. They realize they are right,” after attending this program, she said.

“We’re just opening that door that might not be opened otherwise,” said Brenda Mulhus, who also works with the program. “It’s a great thing the students are doing taking the opportunities that are there.”

Applications for the Class of 2008 students who wish to pursue this program are now available at the high school soon.