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ALBANY, GA --
Albany State University and Deerfield-Windsor made it official today as they signed a partnership allowing Deerfield students to earn credit at Albany State.

Both schools were all smiles as they finalized the year-long effort to allow students a chance to get ahead and save money.

"The prospect of getting between a half year and a full year of college credit before they graduate from high school should be very exciting and also financially a good move," said David Davies, headmaster at Deerfield-Windsor.

"This is one of the best values on earth, dollar for dollar, to get college credit while you are in high school," said Albany State University President Everette Freeman.

Deerfield-Windsor students will be able to qualify for advanced placement courses in math, science, and English - and take a test at the end of the year for possible credit - but the schools say just taking the courses is an advantage.

"It validates that not only are they capable of doing college work, they are doing college work while they're still in high school,” said Davies.

With this partnership, students will be able to walk through the doors of Deerfield-Windsor in the fall with a fresh start and plenty of opportunities.

"If you've got students leaving Albany to go to college elsewhere, some of them will never come back. This is an opportunity to say to some of those students, stay in Albany, get your high school degree, get your college degree and be a part of this community for the rest of your life," said Freeman.

Davies agrees that it can open up worldly possibilities while keeping the students involved in our community.

"It could allow them to do a double-major, it could allow them to minor in something, it could allow them to do something exotic like spend a semester on a ship cruising the Caribbean and studying at the same time and getting that real world experience."