Until a few years ago, three, maybe four kids at Le Sueur-Henderson High School took part in Post Secondary Enrollment Option classes at Minnesota State University.

And to take part, they needed to find a way from Le Sueur to Mankato and back.

But three years ago, a new program emerged that made things a whole lot easier for them.

Now, instead of Le Sueur students going to MSU, the university comes to Le Sueur.

“That’s why parents love it so much,” said Kevin Enerson, principal at Le Sueur-Henderson High School. “And it’s a great opportunity for them to get a taste of the college curriculum.”

MSU calls this program “concurrent enrollment,” and it’s just one of the ways more and more kids are earning college credit while still in high school. Before this program, Le Sueur-Henderson had just a handful of students involved in college-credit courses. This year, they have nearly 70.

PSEO numbers are up, state officials say, since the program’s inaugural year in 1985. In year one, the program attracted 3,500 students. Last year, there were 7,500.

MSU’s concurrent enrollment program at MSU is gaining more believers every semester. When it began in spring semester 2006, there were 161 students enrolled. This semester, there are 274.

At the state level, education department officials say programs that allow students the chance to experience college early can only be positive.

“We’re seeing concurrent enrollment being used a lot in technical classes,” said Karen Klinzing, assistant commissioner for the Department of Education.

Kathy Trauger, who coordinates the PSEO programs at Minnesota State University, said MSU didn’t start offering concurrent enrollment until about three years ago.

“We had a change in philosophy at the university,” Trauger said. “The administration had decided we weren’t going to do concurrent enrollment. ... But in recent years, things have changed.”

Among the disciplines under MSU’s concurrent enrollment umbrella are English, biology, math, music and sociology. They hope to add more areas and work with more schools.

One school district MSU does not work with on concurrent enrollment is Mankato Area Public Schools. Many of their kids do, however, use PSEO, and many more enroll in the district’s advanced placement courses.

Bill Frederickson, a guidance counselor at Mankato West, said there are several reasons why Mankato schools would use concurrent enrollment.