For many Mounds View students, high school is not limited to just high school classes. First introduced to Minnesotan high schools in 1958, PSEO stands for “Postsecondary Enrollment Options.” Available at almost every local college including University of Minnesota, Bethel University and University of Northwestern St. Paul, PSEO classes are a unique way to customize the high school experience, expand career opportunities and save some money on  college tuition.

One of the main strengths of PSEO classes compared to high school classes like AP is the difference in class structure, often with classes taught by professors and TAs in lectures. “With PSEO, you are indistinguishable from any other college student. Your professor doesn’t know you’re a PSEO student, your classmates don’t, your TAs don’t, so you act exactly as any other student would in the class, which means you are directly experiencing college,” junior Nadyne Sattar said. 

PSEO classes also have more class offerings, moving away from broad high school classes to specific courses studying eras of history or literature or subjects like criminology. PSEO also allows students to take more advanced courses that are not offered at Mounds View, often in areas like higher level mathematics or science under professors. “Having a professor teach about a subject that they’re passionate about and that they’ve done research about previously and are continuing to do research about (…) is much more engaging, and I feel like I develop a deeper understanding of the topic because I get to hear their specific examples,” said senior Lucas Brady.

Students have the option to do part-time or full-time PSEO, with part-time consisting of 1-2 college classes and full-time consisting of 3-4 classes, or a minimum of 12 credits, per semester. Since many college courses do not meet five days a week, part-time students often report to the forum during their off-days. However, students doing full-time PSEO often do not come to Mounds View for classes at all. At times, this can be lonely, but according to Brady, making friends at PSEO is essentially the same as in high school. “Nobody knows that I’m a PSEO student unless I tell them, so in both my labs this semester, that’s where I made my friends that I hang out with during lecture…So it is about as easy to make friends on campus as it is to make friends at Mounds View,” Brady said. 

On top of in-person PSEO classes, PSEO classes are available online as well. Online PSEO classes give students more of a flexible and independent-based curriculum with teacher support as an option to learn. This adaptability in curriculum appears to be very beneficial for students who understand prioritizing and time management. “Some days I would only do school work if I needed to catch up and some days I could just do PSEO. It gives you a lot more freedom,” junior Joshua Jacob said. 

Another benefit to taking PSEO classes is the lack of cost, as PSEO is entirely free. For many kids, paying for college can be the reason for not being able to attend, and using PSEO classes can help students graduate early. “We deserve the same opportunities as kids that have a college fund. That’s why PSEO is so beneficial because you can get so many credits done that are transferable and cut down the money [you spend on college],” Bassas said.

Even with such great benefits to education and affordability, only a fraction of Mounds View students enroll in PSEO. One reason is the lack of knowledge around applying.  “A lot of people in our grade have asked me for help because they haven’t really had easy or straightforward access to resources when they wanted to apply. I think the school should do a better job at sharing the opportunity with students so they know how to apply for it and what they would gain from it,” Sattar said. 

In the end, whether one should take PSEO or not comes down to the type of student. Some students who prefer flexible schedules, more class variety or independent focused learning may do better with PSEO than students who need more structure. “I think everyone could benefit from [PSEO], but I’d definitely say there’s a certain amount of maturity [required], and you have to be OK with letting go of high school because it’s pretty independent,” senior Maggie McGann said.