In eighth grade, Scott Dunn decided to find out what he was capable of.
Until then, he hadn’t pushed himself particularly hard in school. But something changed when he began wondering what might happen if he did.
That mindset eventually led Scott, a recent Lincoln-Way West graduate, to the Lincoln-Way Community High School District 210 Diploma & Degree program, a partnership with Joliet Junior College that allows students to combine Advanced Placement, dual-credit, and JJC coursework to earn both a high school diploma and an Associate of Arts degree.
Dunn was among five Lincoln-Way students who met the requirements for an associate degree in summer 2026. The first student to complete the program, Lincoln-Way West graduate Jack Kulhan, did so in 2025. Today, roughly 25 students across Lincoln-Way Central, East, and West are participating.
The idea began in 2023, when Lincoln-Way 210 educators mapped out four-year schedules designed to maximize AP and dual-credit opportunities. They discovered that many students could be within reach of an associate degree with just a handful of additional JJC courses, often taken during the summer.
Lincoln-Way and JJC developed the program together, creating a pathway that extends beyond traditional dual credit. While dual-credit courses are taught at Lincoln-Way by teachers credentialed through JJC, dual-enrollment courses allow students to take specialized college courses directly through JJC, including during evenings or summers.
For Scott, the experience was about more than accumulating credits. It also pushed him outside his comfort zone.
He took a communications course that helped him become more comfortable with public speaking and even enrolled in medieval art, something he might not have otherwise considered.
Now, he’s headed to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to study astrophysics. “This has streamlined my path in college and allows me to take classes I’m more passionate about sooner and possibly even graduate earlier,” he says.
For Lincoln-Way and JJC, the program represents another way to help students explore what comes next before they leave high school. And for students like Scott, that exploration can mean more than getting ahead; it can mean discovering new interests, building confidence, and learning just how far they can go.