<p>Our HS offers several DE classes from different colleges with varying policies. S15 took an Environmental Science course last year and it was mandatory to pay the fee for the credits to enroll in the class. So, he has those credits although I assume they won't be worth anything.</p>
<p>This year he has 5 DE classes. 4 are from the local CC and the credits are free. The 5th is credit "optional" and we need to pay $150 if we want the credit(it is for Spanish). It is offered through a university and is entitled Intermediate Spanish I.</p>
<p>The colleges that he is interested in seem to have this type of policy, for example:</p>
<p>Courses are not eligible for transfer credit if any of the following are true:
The course is taught in a high school to high school students (even if the college provides a transcript).
The course is used to satisfy high school graduation requirements.</p>
<p>Am I correct that most selective colleges have this type of policy? Also, don't most colleges offer language placement testing when they have a language requirement anyway?</p>
<p>I would appreciate any advice. Should I blow the $150 just in case? Spanish next year will be the 2nd semester and I will need to pay $150 again. Thank you.</p>
<p>Any reasonable college Spanish department should have its own placement testing and guidelines for students who know enough Spanish to start in a higher level course than the beginner course.</p>
<p>Agree about the placement testing for the college/university your son will eventually choose to attend. Some will give retroactive credits with the completion of their course, the course determined by placement testing. Some will allow HS foreign languages to be used to meet that degree requirement. Typically one year of a HS class equals one semester at the college level. It is possible to meet a 4 semester BA req with 4 years of one HS foreign language and to not have to take any in college.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t bother. Even if the college accepts the transfer credits your son is likely to not need them to graduate- ie he will find enough courses at that college to take to meet graduation requirements. Your son may also choose a different foreign language offered at his college to meet any requirements. He could have the basics of two instead of one foreign language in his repertoire.</p>
<p>You could easily check on this at a few of his current list of colleges. They will have information for prospective students regarding any testing. Some schools have mandatory math and English assessments as well, regardless of HS courses taken. Those that don’t likely have mandatory courses in those fields.</p>
<p>planner03 – The policy you have encountered at the selective private colleges your son is interested in is pretty much what we encountered when my daughters were applying to college 2 to 6 years ago. Both of my daughters took a good number of dual enrollment courses, but they took them because they wanted to take the most rigorous course schedule their high school offered, and their high school offered very few AP courses. We never paid for the DE courses because we weren’t looking for credits that the schools my daughters applied to would not accept. Many of their friends who planned to attend community college or a SUNY did pay and a few were able to earn a full year’s college credit before graduating from high school. Then there were those who paid for the DE credits and discovered after the fact that their college would not accept the credits. At least we were given the option to pay or not pay. Looks like you don’t have this choice?</p>
<p>Our DE courses (through CC and regional state U) are free if you have a certain GPA/test score, and S took advantage of that and received credit from his college. Most of the schools D will apply to will likely NOT accept those credits, so if she takes any it will be probably be for interest/rigor reasons.</p>
<p>We do have DE options with two local LACs, nation top 50 usnwr ones, and I suspect those WOULD transfer most anywhere. Those are not free, though they offer something like 1/5th of tuition to our HS students.</p>
<p>I think it depends very much on what college your child will attend. S entered college with more than a semester worth of AP/DE credits and it was very good for him to have. Our state requires any public U - flagship too - to accept those credits.</p>
<p>It is no surprise that private colleges want to minimize transfer credit, while public colleges are more generous. This is from the point of view of the college’s finances, not the academics.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone</p>
<p>hudsonvalley-our school is similar and also in NY. We have limited AP offerings as our school chooses to focus on DE opportunities. I had no choice but to pay for the Environmental Science credits last year, but the Spanish is a different SUNY school and the credit is optional. Senior year English is offered through Syracuse University and payment is required-$660!!</p>