Six Lincoln-Way Students Earned Degrees With Diplomas, JJC Reports

Joliet Junior College | August 12, 2026

Article Summary: Joliet Junior College trustees heard Aug. 12 that six students in a partnership with the Lincoln-Way high school district have completed an associate degree at the same time they earned their high school diploma, with 25 students currently enrolled in the program.

Lincoln-Way Dual Credit Partnership Key Points:

25 Lincoln-Way students are currently enrolled; six have completed the program.

Completers earned a JJC associate degree and a high school diploma at the same time.

President Dr. Clyne Namuo described the program as a prototype the college intends to expand across its district.

The partnership is to be featured in a magazine called Lincoln-Way City Lifestyle.

NEW LENOX — The Joliet Junior College Board of Trustees on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026, received a report that six students from the Lincoln-Way high school district have graduated from high school and earned a Joliet Junior College associate degree at the same time, under a dual credit partnership the college chose Lincoln-Way to pilot.

President Dr. Clyne Namuo presented the item as the meeting’s celebration of success, telling trustees that 25 students are currently enrolled in the program and that six have completed it.

“Six students have graduated from high school and earned their associate’s degree,” Namuo said, calling the result “something to celebrate.”

Namuo described the program as the product of a vision developed roughly three years ago as an evolution beyond an earlier dual credit effort, and said Lincoln-Way was selected as the college’s partner. He credited Lincoln-Way Superintendent Dr. Scott Tingley and a district administrator for the partnership, saying that “when you think about solving complex problems, it takes a lot of creativity, and what Lincoln-Way has done to provide their students” deserves recognition. He also asked the room for a round of applause for the district, which it gave.

The college intends to treat the arrangement as a template rather than a one-off, Namuo said.

“As a prototype, we’re going to expand this. This is something that will spread across our district as we have thousands more students participating in dual credit,” he told the board. He said the goal is a mix of offerings in which more high school students combine JJC dual credit with Advanced Placement credit and dual enrollment, in which college faculty teach at the high schools.

Namuo said the partnership will be featured in a publication he identified as Lincoln-Way City Lifestyle, which he said has featured the college previously, and that he would share the article and photographs with the board when they are published.

The item was informational and no vote was taken. Dual credit featured elsewhere in the president’s report as well: Namuo said he had met with the new superintendent of Valley View, which he described as one of the college’s largest partner school districts, and that the district’s leadership remains committed to what he called an ambitious dual credit agenda.

Joliet Junior College serves Illinois Community College District 525, which the Hispanic Heritage Month proclamation read at the same meeting identified as spanning Will, Grundy, Kendall, LaSalle, Kankakee, Livingston and Cook counties.