First published February 8, 2022.
Imunique Triplett, a 17-year-old student at Rufus King High School in Milwaukee, completed a practical nursing programme in December 2021, months before she was due to graduate from high school in May 2022. She did it for free through M3, a partnership between Milwaukee Public Schools, Milwaukee Area Technical College and the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, and she finished with no student debt.
Her story made headlines in early 2022 and is still a useful example for teenagers and parents curious about earning college credit, or even a full credential, while still at school. Here is what she actually achieved, what it does and does not mean, and how programmes like hers work.
What Imunique Triplett achieved
Triplett started the Nursing Pathway in the M3 College Connections programme at 15 and completed it about two years later, on 17 December 2021. Local outlets described the result as a practical nursing degree, and at a pinning ceremony she was recognised as a newly trained practical nurse. TMJ4 reported that she was among the first wave of students to come through the programme.
She was also already working. By early 2022 she had a job at a Milwaukee-area nursing facility and was working as a caregiver. Erin Cherney, manager of high-school relations at MATC, told TMJ4 that her studies had been especially demanding because so much of them took place during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Triplett told Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service how surprised she still was: “I had no idea that I would be graduating before high school with a college degree.”
Finishing a programme versus holding a nursing licence
Some viral versions of the story said she had “earned a nursing degree” as though she were now a registered nurse. That needs a small correction. In the United States, finishing an approved practical nursing programme makes a student eligible to sit the NCLEX-PN, the national licensing exam for licensed practical nurses (LPNs). Only after passing it, and meeting state requirements, can someone work as an LPN.
When her story was reported, Triplett's NCLEX-PN exam was scheduled for April 2022. Her longer-term goal was to become a registered nurse, which requires further study, typically an associate or bachelor's degree in nursing and a separate exam, the NCLEX-RN. She hoped to specialise in obstetrics and was also interested in midwifery; she already held a doula certificate.
None of this makes her achievement smaller. Completing a demanding clinical programme in your mid-teens, alongside regular high-school classes, is remarkable. It simply helps to describe it accurately.
How the M3 programme works
M3, sometimes written M-Cubed, connects the city's public schools, technical college and university so that students can take college courses while still at high school. The Nursing Pathway can lead first to certification as a nursing assistant and then, for those who continue, to a practical nursing qualification.
It is a form of dual enrolment, which is common across the US. Thousands of Milwaukee high-school students have taken dual-enrolment courses at MATC, but as Cherney noted, very few complete a whole two-year programme before graduation. Courses are pass-or-fail in a very practical sense; as Triplett put it, you either pass or you do not.
The programme is also a low-risk way to test a career. Students who start and then decide nursing is not for them have not failed. They have learned something important about themselves before spending years and money on a degree.
What came next: university plans
Some early write-ups said she was likely to attend “New York State University”. The more detailed local report from March 2022 said she was choosing between New York University and Marquette University in Milwaukee, and planned to apply for a summer apprenticeship linked to the Medical College of Wisconsin. Her final choice was not part of the published reporting, so we have not guessed it here.
Her teachers told reporters they believed she could go on to become a nurse practitioner, an advanced role that requires graduate-level training.
Why stories like this matter
The US has a well-documented shortage of nurses, particularly in elder care and long-term care, the very settings where Triplett was already working. Programmes that give teenagers a paid, debt-free route into health care can help both the students and the communities that need them.
Licensed practical nurses, called licensed vocational nurses in California and Texas, work under the direction of registered nurses or doctors. Their day-to-day work usually includes checking vital signs, giving certain medications, changing dressings, helping patients with daily care and keeping records. Many nurses begin as LPNs, earn a wage while they study, and later move on to registered nursing, which is the route Triplett described wanting to follow.
Her story also shows how much difference the right setting can make to a young person. Reports describe her as someone who did not always see herself as a high achiever, but who found her direction once she had a concrete goal. In her own words to TMJ4, she had “started actually working towards something”.
Tips for students considering an early career pathway
- Ask your school counsellor early. Dual-enrolment and career-pathway programmes often have application deadlines a year or more in advance.
- Check what the credential is. Find out whether a programme leads to a certificate, a diploma, an associate degree or eligibility for a licensing exam, and what each allows you to do.
- Look for clinical experience. Hands-on placements are the best way to learn whether you actually enjoy the work.
- Count the hidden costs. Even free programmes may involve uniforms, exam fees or transport.
- Treat a change of mind as useful information, not a failure.
Sources: Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service: She's 17, has a nursing degree and she's still in high school (March 2022); TMJ4: Milwaukee teen finishes nursing degree before she graduates high school (January 2022). Earlier coverage via Positive Outlooks.
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