Dual Enrollment (DE) is a serious commitment. What other obligations do you have? Work? Sports? Extracurricular activities? Will those obligations fit into your college class schedule as easily as a high school schedule?

 

Are you ready?

• Free tuition and earning high school and college credit simultaneously are advantages, but not everyone is ready to handle college classes as a high school student.

• DE is more than being smart enough to handle the rigor of college courses. It also involves having good time management skills and being organized, mature, assertive, and responsible.

• Don’t risk jeopardizing your high school and college GPA for free college classes.

 

Do you qualify?

Students must meet the entrance requirements for the specific university/technical college they wish to attend. Each college has different entrance requirements and deadline dates. You are responsible for verifying the dates.

 

Challenging coursework:

Students participating in DE should do so with the knowledge that the coursework will be harder than high school courses. Some students who have taken Honors, AP, and/or IB coursework have found DE to be challenging or even overwhelming. DE has to be taken seriously and students can’t afford to slack off.

 

There are no deadline extensions, no re-taking of tests, no parent-teacher conferences, no do-overs. Your instructor will treat you as if you are a regular college student. And, there are fewer opportunities for grades. You MUST go to class. ON TIME. EVERY DAY.

​​

Can you take care of your own business?

DE is more than just being smart enough to handle the rigor of college-level classes while still in high school. There is a higher degree of independent responsibility and accountability than in regular high school classes. Students must be willing to seek help on their own, if needed, as soon as a problem arises. The longer you wait to address a problem the more difficult (or impossible) it will be to fix it. An ideal DE student should be:

• Punctual & organized

• A self-starter (show initiative)

• Assertive & independent

• Mature & responsible

• Capable under stress

• A good self-advocate

• Able to prioritize and manage time effectively

​

Part-Time Dual Enrollment

• You must be able to handle the logistics of being at a college campus for part of the day and at CHS for part of the day (allowing time for transportation to and from both campuses).

• Scheduling between the high school and college may limit flexibility in course availability and timing for either campus.

 

Non-mandatory Fees

Certain courses may have extra fees (for example: course-specific fees like a cosmetology mannequin head) that you are responsible for paying.

​

If a student FAILS a Dual Enrollment class:

• The course and grade is posted to the college AND high school transcript.

• It will impact the student’s college AND high school GPA.

• The student may be put on probation by the college or may not be permitted to continue in the DE program.

 

If a student withdraws from a Dual Enrollment class after the 10th day of the college term, a grade of 10 is posted to the high school transcript and no credit is received.

 

Transferring Courses:

• Most DE credits should transfer within Georgia, but may not transfer out-of-state. Do your research if you plan on attending an out-of-state college after you graduate.

• Avoid taking a major-area class in DE if transferring schools upon graduation. For example, if you take Calculus in Dual Enrollment at CTC and will be an Engineering major at KSU after graduation, KSU likely won’t accept a transfer credit in Calculus from CTC. They will want you to take their Calculus course.

​

Which is better: AP classes or Dual Enrollment classes?

• Highly selective colleges may view high school AP courses as more rigorous than DE, so you may be better off taking AP classes and not enrolling in Dual Enrollment.

• DE classes are given 1 extra quality point for the high school GPA ONLY if the student has already taken the highest level offered in the corresponding subject area at the high school. If earning those quality points are important to you, you may be better off taking, for example, AP Lit (1 QP) at CHS instead of ENGL 1101 (no QP) at the college.

​

Special Student Services:

You must inform the college to make arrangements for accommodations. 

 

Other Logistics:

• Cobb County School District and the college are not going to have the same academic calendar. Breaks may not start and end on the same day (ex: Christmas, Thanksgiving). Also, there will be times when CCSD is on break and the college isn’t (ex: Fall Break, Winter Break). You still have to go to your Dual Enrollment classes when CCSD is not in session.

• The first and last days of the semester will not be the same. The college will usually start later and end earlier than CCSD.

​

BENEFITS OF DUAL ENROLLMENT:

1. Tuition, books, and mandatory fees are covered

2. Allows students to start on career goals

3. Permits students to earn college credit while in high school for free

4. Grades for core DE classes are given a .5 extra quality point for HOPE GPA (up to a 4.0)

5. Core DE courses are counted for “rigor requirement” for HOPE

6. DE credit hours DO NOT count toward HOPE limits

7. Eligible through their 4 years of high school

8. No residency or citizenship requirement 

9. Allows for full time or part time enrollment

10. Ideal for:

    • Student who has taken all higher level courses at the high school

    • Student who is not involved or interested in high school environment

    • Student planning to go to through a lengthy graduate program

    • Student who is scared about his/her/their ability to succeed in college (can do part-time and take just one DE class)

​