Collegiate high school seniors in St. Pete all receive associate’s degree

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — St. Petersburg Collegiate High School North Pinellas celebrated and unprecedented first: 100 percent of its graduating seniors also earned their associate’s degree.

With the rising cost of tuition, this program helps a lor of students save money on higher education, and they say that working together to achieve the same goal keeps them focused.

“Being in a program like this that was everyone’s goal, everyone was working towards it, so it was nice to do that with people who also cared about doing it at the same time as me,” said senior Alexandra Hooker. “It’s nice that it relieves a little bit of a financial burden of course.”

St. Petersburg Collegiate High School North Pinellas is a charter school that’s partnered with St. Petersburg College and allows students to earn their high school diplomas while simultaneously earning an associate’s degree and a Bright Futures scholarship — all for free.