As Frenchtown’s Class of 2025 proceeded into a packed gymnasium Sunday, among the graduates were 23 members of the Bronc Fast Track. It’s a special partnership between the school and the University of Montana that lets high schoolers knock down college classes while they work toward a diploma.
Seniors Laurel Krause and Khloe Rausch joined the program as sophomores during its first year.
“We’re the guinea pigs,” Krause told MTPR before the ceremony.
Dual enrollment is not new to Montana high schools, but Bronc Fast Track graduates have gone a step farther than most – they’ve checked off essentially all introductory courses required by Montana University System schools. Thanks to a pair of grants, the credits cost the students nothing, saving them thousands of dollars in tuition.
Rausch plans to attend Montana Tech in the fall and says the Fast Track was well worth it.
“I’m going to nursing school, and I only have to go for three years. We have a whole year done,” Rausch said. “So, it makes everything cheaper.”
Krause is in a different boat. She’s attending a private school out of state and wants to eventually become an Army combat surgeon. Her school likely won’t accept many of the transfer credits from UM, but Krause says getting a feel for college classes in a comfortable environment made the program worth it.
She says combat surgeons saved her father’s life during a tour in Iraq.
“I guess my goal is to eventually bring another little girl’s dad home to her,” Krause said.
For UM dual enrollment director Jordan Patterson, the Bronc Fast Track program is about more than just college recruitment and cost savings for students.
“The thing I am most proud of with this group is their self advocacy. Not just going with the flow ‘because,’ but really driving their future,” Patterson said.
The number of high school students also earning college credit in Montana has more than tripled since 2014.
