By Catholic Philly staff • Posted April 4, 2023

Seniors at Archbishop Ryan High School will have the opportunity to take college-level courses and shorten the time needed to complete a college degree thanks to a partnership with a local Catholic university.

In March, administrators from Archbishop Ryan joined officials from Holy Family University to sign an educational agreement offering seniors at Ryan the opportunity to experience collegiate level course work while still in high school.

As part of the partnership, and as an added bonus for students, Holy Family University will offer the courses at Archbishop Ryan.

Through this program, eligible seniors are able to take dual-credit classes, earning university and high school credits concurrently at a reduced cost of approximately $400 per course. Typically, a student taking college courses part time at a local college or university can expect to pay nearly five times that amount on average.

Joseph McFadden is the current Principal of Archbishop Ryan. He is a 1997 Ryan graduate and a 2001 graduate of Holy Family. He said the school community is excited to, “strengthen our partnership with our closest neighbor.”

“As an alum of both schools, I am happy to see us working so closely together and providing our students additional healthcare, education, and criminal justice opportunities.”

The archdiocesan high school and the university are located just three miles apart in Northeast Philadelphia.

Course offerings for the 2023-2024 academic year include Introduction to Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement; Introductory Psychology; as well as Anatomy and Physiology among others.

“I think it is wonderful to be able to take classes at Archbishop Ryan with our Ryan teachers and earn high school and college credits for these courses,” said Christopher Yengbeh, a junior at Archbishop Ryan.

“When I go to enter college in 2024, I can have six or more credits because of this opportunity,” said Yengbeh.

Other archdiocesan high schools partnering with Holy Family University on similar programming include Conwell-Egan Catholic High School; Father Judge High School; Little Flower Catholic High School for Girls; Saint Hubert Catholic High School for Girls; and Ss. Neumann and Goretti High School.

For more information about Catholic schools in Archdiocese of Philadelphia, please visit www.aopcatholicschools.org/.