CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Colliding galaxies, rogue black holes, wandering meteors — the most dangerous phenomena in the universe make up the lessons in one of the most popular 100-level courses at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Starting in the 2026-2027 academic year, “ASTR 150: Killer Skies: Astro Disasters” will be one of four U. of I. courses also taught in the classrooms of select Illinois high schools as part of the new Dual Credit Learning Accelerator initiative.
This pilot opportunity marks a new approach for the university in offering its popular general education courses directly to high school students across Illinois in the form of dual credit — at no cost to those students.
“The dual-credit initiative reflects our university’s commitment to expanding access and opportunity for students and families across Illinois,” said Provost John Coleman. “Through the Learning Accelerator’s innovative learning model, we’re bringing transformative educational experiences to high school classrooms and preparing students throughout the state for success in college and beyond.”
Led by the Office of Online Learning and the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, the Learning Accelerator was funded through the American Talent Initiative IDEAS grant to establish the university’s first dual-credit initiative. Lisa Anderson, the director of the Office of Online Learning and co-author of the grant, had previous experience with the dual-credit program at Stanford University and joined the U. of I. seeking to bring those opportunities to underserved students at public schools from every region in the state.
“How do we get our courses into high school classroom environments where students don’t otherwise have access to these opportunities for general education credits?” Anderson said of her initial vision for dual credit at Illinois. “And it was important to me to make these opportunities free for students.”
The College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences already had the framework for a dual-credit course at the time Illinois received funding for this initiative, making the unit an ideal partner to fast-track the first offering from the university. Anna Ball, associate dean for academic programs in the College of ACES, launched “ACES 102: Introduction to Sustainable Food Systems” in two high schools in fall 2025 with support from the Office of Online Learning.
The four new dual-credit courses slated for the 2026-27 academic year were developed to showcase the breadth of educational topics offered at Illinois, with faculty partners who are passionate about reaching students from underrepresented populations and interested in presenting their courses in a setting outside of campus that might spark interest in their fields of study. The courses are not standard core credits on purpose.
“We’re trying to offer both an advanced educational experience, but also something that students might not get in a regular high school class,” said Hilary Gross, the Learning Accelerator program coordinator. “The hope is that we might show high school students that college can be whatever you make it.”
Those four courses are:
- ASTR 150: Killer-Skies: Astro-Disaster
- MACS 100: Introduction to Popular TV and Movies
- SPED 117: The Culture of Disability
- CS/STAT 107: Data Science Discovery
One of the hurdles that the Online Learning team encountered in planning the initiative includes the credentialing of the instructors for these courses. Under Illinois state law, high school instructors teaching a dual-credit course must have an advanced degree in the discipline of that course.
To open up the pool of instructors that could teach these courses, the university is partnering with the Illinois Virtual Schools and Academy provider to supply credentialed teachers. Now, a school district only has to raise its hand with interest in the initiative and then indicate whether it already has a credentialed instructor or needs one — a prospect that is generating enthusiasm across the state.
“Families are excited because the credit their student will earn could go to any or most four-year colleges across the country,” said Melissa Lundgaard, executive director of IVSA. “In terms of opportunity, this is opening up the whole country for our students.”
“Districts are excited because of the price point. And my teachers who have the credentials cannot wait to have the opportunity to teach these classes and work with faculty at the U. of I.”
The result is a dual-credit model that can scale up so that an academic unit at the U. of I. can offer any of its courses to a high school student. Inclusive grading will be implemented to ensure the experience is not punitive, meaning students can withdraw from a course late, elect Credit/No Credit, or retake it if they eventually attend the university. A support hotline will be available in case a student has trouble logging onto any course platforms.
And there’s an additional experiential component to the Learning Accelerator initiative that will give high school students a tangible sense of what the college experience feels like at Illinois. Students will be able to access the university’s library system, one of the best in the nation. They can also travel to campus to receive their i-Card or set up their virtual i-Card from home.
Rantoul is one of the high schools already lined up to participate in the next academic year. Anderson envisions an Illinois faculty member making a surprise visit to a Rantoul classroom to work with students enrolled in their course.
“The university and our college units have an interest in these students,” Anderson said. “They’re in a course with us. Now what else can we do for students to make our university accessible to them and introduce them to potential career outcomes they might not have considered?”
