Colleges That DO NOT Accept Dual Credit HS Courses

<p>This issue has been discussed at least briefly on several threads of the Parents forum, but I can't find in one location information as to which colleges and universities do not accept credit for "college-in-the-high school" (aka dual credit) courses. I'm asking this because many parents in our local high schools have found, to their chagrin, that the Spanish IV course or Pre-Calculus course that they had paid the local CC or SUNY or Syracuse University to get credit for will not be accepted at the college their son or daughter has been accepted at. In some cases they had been told that "all colleges accept these credits" only to find out that what the teacher/guidance counselor meant was "all SUNY colleges will accept these credits."</p>

<p>One might guess that college-in-the-high school courses will not garner you credit at Harvard, Yale or Princeton, but looking around at the admissions sites for less prestigious institutions it seems there are many others that will not accept dual enrollment credits. These include:</p>

<p>Albion College
Albright College
American University
Arcadia University
Bard College
Bates College
Baldwin-Wallace College
Bennington College </p>

<p>To name just a few. Could CC Parents who have been down this path add to this list? I would like to share this information with our high school along with a suggestion that they be more careful about overstating the transferrability of college-in-the-high school credits. [Please note: I am not arguing against dual credit programs -- they have innate value just in the extra challenge they offer strong secondary school students -- just the way they are often billed as a way to save money at ALL colleges.]</p>

<p>Gosh, I think there are probably more schools then don’t take them that do. The same could be true for AP classes - either they won’t take them or they don’t fit in the intended major. I don’t know if any of the private Colleges my son is applying to will take anything. In our small HS there are not a lot of choices so the kids that take the harder classes just take AP’s and dual credit knowing that they may or may not count. If nothing else, they are generally harder and look good on the transcript.</p>

<p>kathiep – There is a difference between taking a dual enrollment course for the challenge and paying for the dual enrollment course with the expectation that ALL colleges will accept those credits. As you say, not all colleges accept AP credits and, if they do, not all colleges will accept a 3 or 4 on the exam for credit. The difference I have noted in our community is that parents are told about the limits on AP credit but not about the limits on college-in-the-high school credit. Some parents (not us) have not discovered their mistake until they’ve spent a few thousand dollars. I don’t think that is right.</p>

<p>hv51 - I agree. I made the mistake with my oldest of paying for a duel photography class. Then I happened to stumble on something on U of R website that stated they do not accept any course taken at the HS - so you can add them to your list.</p>

<p>My 3rd child is currently in Pre-Cal enriched and the teacher pushed the kids HARD to sign up for the duel credits. He may have been the only kid that did not go for it. I guarantee there is no college he will be going to that gives credit for PRE-Calc - at least not toward his intended major. My older son got a 5 on the AP Calc BC and he only got credit for Cal I at his top 20 school (so pre-cal would not have been given any credit toward degree)</p>

<p>Everyone at my son’s school has dual credits. We are advised to just check with each college because what is accepted varies. It can depend on the college at which the credits were earned, the college being attended, and the courses. Some colleges also have a limit on the total number of credits they will accept.</p>

<p>hi there! I am an AP teacher and Dual Credit teacher. I am in Texas. We have found that most of the public universities will take DC classes. The ones that don’t usually want a 4/5 on an AP exam. Some just want you to take their introductory classes.</p>

<p>At my school, we have a huge majority of students who stay in town or go to UT Austin, UT San Antonio, ASU, etc. All their DC credits transfer. I have had a few students who were considered juniors after their first semester in college.</p>

<p>You definitely need to look at the schools you are shooting for and look up their requirements. In any event, our DC program is considered rigorous as is our AP program. Most of our students take some of each.</p>

<p>Hi Hudson Valley,</p>

<p>One tip: Many schools (in my experience working in college admissions and now university administration) WILL allow students to apply <em>some</em> credit prior to matriculation from university or college classes IF those classes were A) not taken on a high school campus, B) were not used to also fulfill high school requirements, and C) were considered “regular” college courses.</p>

<p>I think this is where the big “rub” so to speak comes in for many students, particularly from areas where dual degree courses are popular or widely offered (New York state for example – IMHO NY is where this “trend” is most widespread). </p>

<p>So, if little Suzy has fufilled her 3-years-of-math requirement for her HS diploma and decides to take Calculus I at the local college campus (not for any HS credit) her senior year, there is a distinct possibility that this credit may transfer, even if the school does not accept dual degree credits.</p>

<p>Is this distinction clear?</p>

<p>Part of the hesitancy, among many other issues including questions of academic rigor, for some schools to accept dual degree credits is that students are in-effect “double dipping” – that is, earning a credit for both their high school diploma AND towards a college degree. Some may argue that AP courses are similarly suited, but anyone can take the AP exam (without taking the course) and students are only given credit for particular scores/exam performance, so there is (at least theoretically ;)) a nationally administered and evaluated standard that is earned outside of the classroom. </p>

<p>I tried to find an example of this policy in writing and I found two (pasted below) – one from Tufts and one from Duke. </p>

<p>From Tufts:

</p>

<p>From Duke:

</p>

<p>I am not surprised that Pre-Calc is not given college credit. This is really a high school course. With some of these colleges it may be the specific course and not in fact, a blanket statement.
I would bet that at least Arcadia will accept Calculus credit from a dual credit course.</p>

<p>I know that University of Pennsylvania (the Ivy league college) does in fact, accept dual credit courses from our local Community college. Penn State accepts the credit as well.</p>

<p>Our kids get a transcript directly from the community college to send to their current school, there is no difference between a course taken at high school and taken directly at the community college. We have found that any college who accepts the cc’s credit will accept the dual credit.</p>

<p>I have never found a college that accepted dual credit courses except for the partner college, and I looked at dozens of non-elite schools for my two daughters.</p>

<p>JustAMomof4 – Cornell University CALS will accept dual enrollment courses from NYS community colleges according to several Cornell moms I know. I wonder if Penn has a similar arrangement: they accept dual enrollment credits from PA community colleges but not from Big Sky CC in Montana?</p>

<p>As far as Albright college - I know for a fact they will accept dual credit courses from our community college. I am not sure how you got this information.<br>
Perhaps it is specific to certain courses or a certain CC?</p>

<p>hbv51 - I have no idea. Perhaps.</p>

<p>My daughter had no trouble transferring her dual credit Calculus I credit to her college in Maryland though.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Since “most” colleges are public, and they tend to be extremely generous with AP/IB/dual enrollment credit…</p>

<p>but yes, private colleges have a much different attitude. A couple I have noticed WILL provide credit if the dual class was taken on the college campus with regular college students and HS grad credit was not needed.</p>

<p>If you are actually paying the Community college and receive a transcript from the community college, I would take issue if a college would not accept this - if they would accept the same course taken at the CC.</p>

<p>Updated List:</p>

<p>Colleges That Do Not Accept Dual Enrollment (College-in-the-High School) Course Credits</p>

<p>Albion College (Michigan)
Albright College (Pennsylvania)
American University (Washington, DC)
Arcadia University (Pennsylvania)
Bard College (New York)
Bates College (Maine)
Baldwin-Wallace College (Ohio)
Bennington College (Vermont)
Bowdoin College (Maine)
Boston University (Massachusetts)
Brandeis University (Massachusetts)
Brown University (Rhode Island)
Columbia University (New York)
Dartmouth College (New Hampshire)
Dickinson College (Pennsylvania)
Drew University (New Jersey)
Drexel University (Pennsylvania)
Elon University (North Carolina)
Emerson College (Massachusetts)
Fairfield University (Connecticut)
Fairleigh Dickinson University (New Jersey)
Fordham University (New York)
Franklin and Marshall College (Pennsylvania)
Georgetown University (Washington, DC)
Harvard University (Massachusetts)
Lafayette College (Pennsylvania)
Princeton University (New Jersey)
University of Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania)
University of Rochester (New York)
Yale University (Connecticut)</p>

<p>Where are you getting this list??</p>

<p>Since there are a couple thousand colleges in the country, that list could get quite long, and so would the list of colleges that will take DCs (or at least some of them). So, look for articulation agreements. Many State Us with have them with in-state community colleges. Private colleges nearest the cc may also have them. Our local cc has the agreements on line. A high school student can just look and see what’s guaranteed to transfer and what it will transfer as. </p>

<p>FWIW, od1 has been accepted at 3 schools in the Midwest. All will take her DCs, although not all those classes will be useful. In my state, though, DCs are free to the student. There’s not much to lose and the potential for significant gain in taking them.</p>

<p>JustAMomof4 – I suspect that in many cases it IS specic to a certain course and or CC (or CC system). Cornell CALS may accept Calc I from the SUNY community colleges but I would not be so certain about them accepting dual enrollment credit from a CC in Alabama or New Mexico. </p>

<p>I got the information for Albright from their admissions website. I understand that special circumstances might trump the norm, but the norm at Albright seems to be that credit is not given for “college-in-the-high school” courses (as opposed to courses taken by high school students IN a community college classroom).</p>

<p>JustAMom4 – I am getting the list from individual college admissions websites. I would love to get some help with this, but if not I’ll be gathering what info I can and double-checking some of it with the appropriate college admissions offices.</p>

<p>ordinarylives – I’m not looking for colleges that grant college-in-the-high-school credit for classes taken through component public university systems. This will primarily be a list of private colleges and universities. However, I do wonder if Penn State or UCLA would give credit for a dual enrollment course taken at our small NYS public. Just don’t have time to find out.</p>