The South Texas College (STC) hosted a meeting as part of the National Summit for Dual Credit Programs (NSDCP) at South Padre Island on Monday.

Officials say STC was an early adopter of the model that allows high school students to take college classes. 

Now, STC officials say the school works with 70 high schools in the Rio Grande Valley, and 118,000 students have gone through the program.

"STC has been fortunate that they began as a pilot program many years ago," STC President Dr. Ricardo Solis said. "Now, the dual credit program has evolved and morphed into many other programs throughout the nation. And of course, South Texas College continues to be at the forefront and continues changing to the needs of the dual credit program."

ABC News Correspondent and host of the show What Would You Do? John Quinones was a guest speaker at the dual credit conference.

Quinones said he got the chance to go to college through a program called Upward Bound.

"For a Latino kid who had no one in his family who went to college, and I was a first-generation, it's a lifesaver because it basically shows you that, yes, you can, si se puede, but you need a little helping hands," Quinones said. "And sometimes that comes in the form of credits that you get to take advantage of when you're still in high school. Because it's so hard for us to get acclimated to the idea of college, especially when we had no role models."

Educators from campuses across the country attended the summit, now in its 16th year.