Meet the Utah students who took advantage of concurrent enrollment at Weber State
OGDEN, Utah — With more than 16,000 concurrent enrollment students, Weber State University is a top institution for Utah teens getting a head start on college.
The Utah Legislature annually funds concurrent enrollment, which provides students an opportunity to receive college credit for classes they take in high school.
Nationally, WSU ranks highest in CE students among four-year colleges, according to the most recent data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System. At $5 per credit hour, WSU Concurrent Enrollment offers more than 130 courses to help students save money, complete their degree and enter the workforce sooner.
A career in Utah’s energy sector
Energy engineering student Matt Millburn said his “entire senior year of high school” consisted of concurrent enrollment courses, which added about 30 college credits to his Weber State transcript before he ever stepped foot on campus.
Millburn, 23, said his fascination with societal use of energy drew him to WSU, which is the first school in Utah to offer a degree in energy engineering — a specialized focus of mechanical engineering that explores the best ways to produce, use and save energy.
“There’s definitely a need for these kinds of engineers,” Millburn said, emphasizing the need for clean energy and energy independence. He currently works as an energy auditor at the Intermountain Industrial Assessment Center and serves part time in the Utah Army National Guard.
“I’d been thinking about what would provide the most stable job over the next 20 years, and energy is a huge national priority,” Millburn said. “Becoming an expert in that now, it positions me well in the future.”
Two years closer to becoming a lawyer
Georgia Fox graduated high school with both her diploma and an associate’s degree from Weber State thanks to concurrent enrollment. Fox attended the Northern Utah Academy for Math, Engineering & Science, better known as NUAMES, which has classroom space on both the WSU Ogden and Davis campuses.
The 19-year-old now studies political science in hopes of becoming a lawyer. She said it was a WSU concurrent enrollment professor who inspired her to look into that field: “There was definitely an aha moment. I realized law school is something I could do.”
Fox said she’s glad she took advantage of CE courses in high school: “Switching from NUAMES to Weber State was super easy, and there were so many perks to staying at Weber.”
The Davis County native expects to graduate again from WSU in 2026, this time with her bachelor’s degree, with a goal to become a copyright attorney or civil attorney.
Inspired to teach and coach in Utah
Sophomore Porter Benton said it was a WSU concurrent enrollment class that convinced him he should become a history teacher.
Education as a Career, a course offered during Benton’s senior year of high school, showed him that teaching was the path for him: “I realized I could wake up every day and be excited to go into work.”
Now he’s a history teaching major, hoping to teach and also coach baseball at his alma mater, Clearfield High School. He’s minoring in both political science teaching and sports coaching education.
At WSU, Benton said he’s learning more about the kind of teacher he’d like to be: “When I’m teaching, I want my students to know I care about them, in and outside the classroom. I want to be somebody that makes students excited to come to school.”
Bryan Magaña, public relations director
801-626-7948, bryanmagana@weber.edu- Contact:
Bryan Magaña, public relations director
801-626-7948, bryanmagana@weber.edu