Colby-Sawyer College has signed an agreement with St. Johnsbury Academy allowing junior and senior academy students to take college-level courses on location at St. Johnsbury Academy in St. Johnsbury, Vt.

Under the terms of the five-year agreement signed by Colby-Sawyer College President Thomas C. Galligan Jr. and St. Johnsbury Academy Headmaster Thomas W. Lovett, participating students must meet academic standards and course prerequisites for program eligibility. Upon successful completion of the course(s), academy students will receive credits toward their St. Johnsbury high school graduation requirements as well as college credits and a college transcript from Colby-Sawyer College.

“Our graduates who have gone on to Colby-Sawyer have spoken highly of their experiences there, and this partnership will allow more students to have similar academic experiences while still in high school,” said Headmaster Lovett.

The collaboration will launch in fall 2016 with course offerings in the fine and performing arts and in business administration. All courses will be instructed by St. Johnsbury faculty who are selected by Colby-Sawyer administrators and hold the same advanced degree and discipline credentials required of Colby-Sawyer faculty. The curriculum will be approved by Colby-Sawyer’s Academic Dean Lisa Hayward, Ph.D., in cooperation with relevant department chairs at the college, and will be monitored by regular classroom observations and instructor evaluations.

“The missions of our two schools are very much aligned,” said Dean Hayward. “Like Colby-Sawyer College, St. Johnsbury Academy is a liberal arts-based institution that promotes high academic standards, diversity and sustainability.”

The cost to eligible St. Johnsbury Academy students will be $150 per four-credit course, as compared with Colby-Sawyer’s traditional fee of $1,287 per credit. Students are permitted to take up to four Colby-Sawyer courses and are expected to attend an academic event at the college’s New London, N.H., campus that complements their coursework and connects them with the academic department(s) in which they are studying.

“We are excited to add Colby-Sawyer as a partner institution and to give our students a college-level experience during their years at the Academy,” said Headmaster Lovett. “We believe that through such partnerships we can not only ease the transition between high school and college, but also reward our students for the excellent work they do while at the Academy.”

This is the first agreement that Colby-Sawyer has established with a private secondary institution; the college has several articulation agreements with community colleges in New Hampshire to support graduates transferring into a bachelor degree program at Colby-Sawyer. Additional agreements exist between Colby-Sawyer and other higher education institutions to assist eligible Colby-Sawyer seniors into graduate programs.

About St. Johnsbury Academy

Founded in 1842, St. Johnsbury Academy is a non-profit, independent, coeducational day and boarding school for students in grades 9-12 and a post-graduate year. The Academy offers over 220 courses in the humanities, STEM fields, languages, arts, and in technical education. The school is widely recognized for developing character, academic excellence, and civic responsibility in its students. St. Johnsbury Academy is located in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. Find more information about St. Johnsbury at stjacademy.org.