Beginning a new chapter, but stuck between the pages
PSEO high schoolers love the free college credits, but feel like they live in a social and academic purgatory between high school and college.
By Anna Pearson, reporter
Michael Sundblad moved his belongings into Getsch Hall at Bethel University during the last week of August, along with every other freshman. He was welcomed by the Welcome Week staff, his resident assistant and resident director, along with every other freshman. He said goodbye to his parents, met his new roommate and began unpacking boxes of clothes, decorations and necessities, along with every other freshman.
But unlike every other freshman, Sundblad is not getting a completely fresh start. He just barely turned 18. He often feels the need to prove himself when walking into a room. Sundblad is not a freshman, he’s a senior in high school. He is a part of Bethel’s Postsecondary Enrollment Option program, also known as PSEO.
PSEO is an opportunity for high school juniors and seniors to attend classes at Bethel and earn college credits to get a head start on an undergraduate degree — for free. Students often commute to campus from high schools within an hour of the Twin Cities, but some live further away and can be an on-campus resident if they are 17 on or before move-in day. These 16, 17 and 18-year-olds sit in Bethel’s classes, attend Bethel events and act like Bethel students, but living college life as a high schooler doesn’t all come naturally.
“There’s somewhat of a stigma around being PSEO, because everyone else is paying full tuition, and then there’s me just free riding,” Sundblad said.
Introducing themselves as freshmen in college, the 155 PSEO students on campus easily fill up limited spots in freshman courses at Bethel. They hang out in The Loft, playing pool, hunched over their laptops and homework, often procrastinating assignments — much like other freshmen in college. Internally, however, they struggle against the grain of college life while still being high schoolers.
For Sundblad, the opportunity to get free college was something his family wanted to invest in, but being from Cokato, more than one hour away, meant living on campus in order to do in-person classes. Excited to begin a new chapter of his life, Sundblad spent the first three months of PSEO hitting golf balls over the highway at 2 a.m., buying a trampoline that he wasn’t supposed to have and keeping a stolen chair in his dorm room. Among these late night adventures, he’s created connections with other freshmen and PSEO students and enjoyed his classes thus far.
However, leaving home a year earlier than his friends back home has not been without difficulties. Sundblad still holds onto his core childhood friends, but is now living in a different phase of life from them.
“I really value them, and their friendship, so it’s been hard to see them having their senior year together and I’m out doing my own thing,” Sundblad said. This past fall, he missed out as high school friends pulled together a senior road trip to Badlands National Park in South Dakota and saw their high school football team win a state championship while Sundblad was living his college life.
Unlike on-campus residents, commuter PSEO students have more flexibility with engagement in high school friendships, sports and activities. PSEO student Johanna Johnson spends one day a week leading Fellowship of Christian Athletes meetings at Orono High School. But on campus, Johnson feels separated from other students due to her commuter status. Planning to attend Bethel after graduation, next fall she will live in sophomore housing with other current PSEO friends.
“It would have been a little weird to spend my first year in the freshman dorms because I would have already had an entire year under my belt, ” Johnson said.
“PSEO really helps Bethel carry out our mission to provide education for a wider band of students. Because of the financial advantage of PSEO, students who may not otherwise be able to look at Bethel have the opportunity to take a Bethel class and benefit from that learning.” — Julie Finnern, Associate Provost for the Bethel University College of Arts and Sciences
For many students, the decision to attend early college was highly influenced by the financial benefits.
“PSEO really helps Bethel carry out our mission to provide education for a wider group of students,” said Associate Provost for the Bethel University College of Arts and Sciences Julie Finnern. “Because of the financial advantage of PSEO, students who may not otherwise consider Bethel have the opportunity to take a Bethel class and benefit from that learning.”
Saving up to $50,000 a year is a large factor in choosing PSEO. Additionally, these students are able to be academically challenged with college-level courses, and are forced to wrestle a senior hike instead of sliding their way through the end of high school.
“I felt like I needed to challenge myself. AP classes at the high school weren’t cutting it,” commuter PSEO student Anna Maeckelbergh said.
PSEO can be a high-risk, high-reward situation. If students are struggling with the higher level courses, failing classes that go toward high school requirements can affect high school graduation as well as college credit.
For Bethel faculty, this means supporting students with slightly different needs than the institution’s traditional population. Finnern said the students also have to be willing to make the transition, with all its highs and lows, to college life.
“It’s not that I feel like I can’t engage in campus activities, just more like I don’t want to, because I feel like I wouldn’t get the whole experience out of it. I would just be there and be awkward.” — Anna Maeckelbergh, Bethel University PSEO commuter
Sundblad participates in events held by his RA team for his floor, and Johnson attended the homecoming banquet with friends. Some PSEO students feel more connected than others.
“It’s not that I feel like I can’t engage in campus activities, just more like I don’t want to, because I feel like I wouldn’t get the whole experience out of it. I would just be there and be awkward,” Maekelbergh said.
Spending more time on campus for PSEO and Bethel activities means less time invested in high school. Maeckelbergh missed her school’s deadline for seniors to submit baby pictures for the yearbook because she was never notified about it. Small things add up, further causing PSEO students to feel separated from their college-aged and high school peers alike.
“My least favorite part is that you’re kind of stuck between two worlds. You’re stuck with like not having your complete high school experience and you don’t exactly have a full college experience, although it’s pretty close.” — Michael Sundblad, Bethel University PSEO resident
Sundblad got the “freedom” that comes with the first year of college earlier than most, including no restrictions from his parents like he had at home. There is no one to check up on him, no one to remind him to go to bed and no one to make sure he gets to class on time. At heart, Sundblad agrees with his parents on the topic of strict schedules, and it was hard to go to bed earlier than 3 a.m. on some nights when having a social life meant pushing back homework by a few hours. Although he did choose to live the college life of PSEO, academics are still a priority when he’s getting free credits.
“My least favorite part [of PSEO] is that you’re kind of stuck between two worlds,” Sundblad said. “You’re stuck with not having your complete high school experience and you don’t exactly have a full college experience, although it’s pretty close.”
Fever chart; # of PSEO students at Bethel growing, according to the Office of Institutional Data & Research
Fall of — # of PSEO students
2021 — 155
2020 — 139
2019 — 102
2018 — 119
2017 — 100
2016 — 101
SOURCE: Bethel University’s Office of Institutional Data & Research. Graphic by Anna Pearson
Pie chart; PSEO students taking classes at Bethel from Fall 2016 to Fall 2020 have returned to Bethel the following fall as Bethel undergraduate students
47% of PSEO students continued the following fall as Bethel students
53% of PSEO students did not continue attending Bethel the following fall
SOURCE: Bethel University’s Office of Institutional Data & Research. Graphic by Anna Pearson
List; PSEO application process
- Complete the online application by either the early admission deadline (Oct. 15) or regular admission deadline (Dec. 1)
- For students applying to do PSEO entering their junior year of high school, complete an interview with a faculty member of admissions or academic affairs
- Submit high school transcript
- Send standardized testing scores (PSAT, ACT, CLT, SAT, or Pre-ACT)
- Complete the PSEO State Form Notice of Registration
- Complete a high school counselor form
SOURCE: Bethel University. Graphic by Anna Pearson
