The Dual Diploma program offers a unique opportunity to earn an American High School diploma while attending an Austrian high school and pursuing the “Matura”. I joined in my first year at HTL and will finish in 2025. As the program concludes, I’d like to share a brief reflection on my experience.

The Dual Diploma program, offered by Mater Academy, provides online courses for subjects not covered in the Austrian high school curriculum, such as U.S. History, English (U.S. standard), Economics, and U.S. Government. Students can complete these mandatory courses over 2, 3, or 4 years and select one elective each year. After successfully completing the Austrian Matura, students then receive the American High School diploma during a graduation ceremony in Verona, Italy.

I chose the 2-year option and started right away during my first year at HTL Braunau. At the beginning of the year, I had to take an entrance test to assess my English skills, which determined the level of English I would study during the program. Shortly after, an American teacher was assigned to me, and I got access to my online courses. From that point on, I received a set number of tasks in my courses each week, all of which were due by the end of the week. After submitting a task, my teacher provided feedback and immediately graded the assignment.

Submitting all assignments on time required strong time management skills and sometimes considerable effort. However, the average workload was typically around 2-3 hours per week. Each task included a lecture to read and an assignment, which could range from quizzes and essays to creative projects, such as creating presentations, videos, or designing posters. From year two onwards, tasks became slightly tougher, as they also included analyzing historical texts and writing essays about them.

For the elective, in my first year, I chose “Public Speaking and Journalism.” This course primarily focused on journalism while also covering tips and strategies to improve public speaking skills. I found it very engaging and would definitely recommend it. In my second year, I opted for “Criminology,” where I explored various psychological theories and methods to better understand the criminal mind and crime in general.

Courses also included online meetings. Every few weeks, my teacher organizes so-called “mandatory” and “content” live sessions, in which topics related to the courses were discussed. Students sometimes got the opportunity to interact in group activities and exchange ideas. Each meeting also came with a small task, such as answering a question or uploading notes taken during the meeting.

All in all, I would say the Dual Diploma program is an exciting and unique opportunity to gain valuable knowledge and enhance one’s English proficiency, and I would definitely recommend it to others.