Historically Black Virginia State University has entered into a cooperative agreement with the public schools in Chesterfield County, Virginia. Under terms of the agreement, junior and senior students in 11 public high schools in the county will be offered college-level courses that will be taught on the high school campuses. Students will earn both high school credits for taking the courses and if they later enroll at Virginia State, the credits will count toward their college degree. Students who take the courses will be issued identification cards that will allow them to access the Virginia State University libraries and laboratories. There is no fee for high school students who take the college-level courses.
Virginia State has similar agreements with five other counties as well as with the city school systems in Richmond and Petersburg. Students who participate in the program, on average, accumulate a semester worth of credits enabling them to reduce the cost of earning a four-year college degree.
