College Acceleration Programs

The term dual enrollment refers to students being enrolled – concurrently – in two different educational institutions. This means that a student enrolled in high school may be dual enrolled at a local institution of higher learning, in this case a local community college. If students pass their college classes, they receive credit that may be applied toward their high school diploma and toward a college degree or certificate.

Your Grades Will Follow You

• The grades you earn in dual enrollment courses will go on your official college transcript.
• A grade of D or lower is considered a fail and will be posted on your transcript, which could make it harder to get into some colleges and/or qualify for certain scholarships.
• If you fail a dual enrollment course, you are not allowed to take a dual enrollment course the next semester unless you choose to make up that failing grade. If you plan to retake the course, you must meet with a counselor beforehand.

Dual Enrollment Could Impact Your College Financial Aid and College Eligibility

• Just like AP courses, passing dual enrollment courses can boost your GPA, which helps strengthen your college and scholarship applications.
• To keep financial aid, most colleges/universities require you to maintain a minimum GPA (usually a 2.0 or above) to maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress. If you fall below the minimum GPA, you risk losing your financial aid. Check with your desired college for specific rules on GPA requirements.

Some Credits May Not Transfer (It Depends On the College or University)

• Some private colleges don’t accept dual enrollment credits. However, taking these courses still strengthens your college application, increases your chances of acceptance, and builds your college readiness.
• Before you sign up for a college course on your own, talk to your high school counselor. Some credits may not transfer, depending on the course.

There Are Unit Limits

• A unit refers to how much credit you receive for taking a course. Each course is worth a certain number of units, which reflects the amount of work or time required.
• There are restrictions on how many units you can take each semester.

There Are Important Deadlines and Attendance Policies

• Colleges and universities have strict deadlines for adding, dropping, or withdrawing from classes. Missing these deadlines can affect your grades, financial aid, and course credits. If you want to make any changes to your schedule, always speak with your high school counselor before the deadline.
• Colleges and universities have attendance policies that are different from your high school. Please review your college course syllabus to make sure you understand the policies.

Dual enrollment courses are different in that they are taught to the rigor of a college course. Students will be using the same college textbooks and syllabi as they would if they were taking a class at the college. Assignments will be graded using college rubrics and standards. The final grade the student receives in their dual enrollment class will be recorded on their official college transcript.

Advantages of Dual Enrollment:

• Dual Enrollment can decrease the amount of time a student will spend in college completing general education (GE) and/or prerequisite courses.
• In some cases, the student may be able to attain an Associate’s degree at the same time or shortly after their high school graduation.
• Participation in college credit courses may ease the transition from high school to college by giving students a sense of what college academics are like.
• A cost-efficient way for students to accumulate college credits because courses are taken at no cost to the student through the local high school.

Disadvantages:

• If a student fails one of these classes it will negatively affect them on their high school transcripts and college transcripts.
• Too many failed dual enrollment classes and too many “W” withdrawals will jeopardize future college enrollment and possibly financial aid.

Financial aid has a 90 unit limit and thus dual enrollment courses must be carefully selected with the advice of a high school and college counselor.

No. Currently most classes designated as dual enrollment are offered on the high school campus and if they are on the college campus, a parent/guardian signature will be required for transportation purposes. Most courses will take place during the student’s regular school day/hours.

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law that affords parents the right to have access to their children’s education records, the right to seek to have the records amended, and the right to have some control over the disclosure of personally identifiable information from the education records. When a student turns 18 years old, or enters a postsecondary institution at any age, the rights under FERPA transfer from the parents to the student (“eligible student”).

For more information, visit the US Department of Education’s Protecting Student Privacy website.

An “eligible student” means a student who has reached the age of 18 or who is attending a postsecondary institution at any age.  Once a student becomes an “eligible student,” the rights afforded his or her parents under FERPA transfer to that student.

However, in a situation where a student is enrolled in both a high school and a postsecondary institution, the two schools may exchange information on that student.  If the student is under 18, the parents still retain the rights under FERPA at the high school and may inspect and review any records sent by the postsecondary institution to the high school.

When can a parent access the postsecondary educational records of their eligible student?

While the rights under FERPA transfer from the parents to the student when the student turns 18 or enrolls in a postsecondary institution at any age, FERPA provides ways in which an institution can share education records on the student with their parents, such as:

• Schools may disclose any and all information to parents, without the consent of the eligible student, if the student is a dependent for tax purposes under the IRS rules. Neither the age of the student, nor the parent’s status as custodial parent, is relevant to determining whether disclosure of information from the education records of eligible students to a parent without written consent is permissible under FERPA. If a student is claimed as a dependent by either parent for tax purposes, then either parent may have access under this provision, absent a court order specifically prohibiting it.
• FERPA also permits a school to disclose information from an eligible student’s education records to parents if a health or safety emergency involves their student.
• Another provision in FERPA permits a college or university to let parents of students under the age of 21 know when the student has violated any law or policy concerning the use of possession of alcohol or a controlled substance.

School officials may also share information with a parent about an eligible student that is based on that official’s personal knowledge or observation and that is not based on information contained in an education record.

Instructors utilize the student information system to acquire the language levels of FUSD English Learners. In 2012, the CA Department of Education (CDE) adopted new language-level proficiency descriptors and new EL state standards. Visit the California English Language Development Standards website to learn more about those new descriptors and corresponding standards

In 2015, the CA Department of Education adopted new ELA-ELD Frameworks, with specific strategies designed to meet the needs of EL students. You can read Chapter 2 of the English Language Arts/English Language Development Framework published by the California Department of Education to learn more about the new frameworks.

Supporting English-language Learners in Dual Enrollment – Strategies for Instructors

Accommodations for Students with Special Needs

Dual Enrollment is a college course. Educational rights covered by IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Act) do not apply to postsecondary education. Instead, colleges must comply with the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the Civil Rights Restoration Act. This means that a high school student’s 504 and/or I.E.P. do not apply to Dual Enrollment Courses without an Academic Accommodation Plan (AAP). If a student has a documented disability and needs accommodation on their Dual Enrollment course, they must complete the DSPS New Student Intake process and meet with a DSPS counselor to develop an Academic Accommodation Plan.

Postsecondary institutions are required to:

• Make all programs and services physically accessible to all students
• Provide auxiliary aids, notetakers, alternative formats, appropriate equipment, and software to ensure the participation of students with disabilities in college classes and activities
• Accommodate the academic participation of qualified students with disabilities in college classes and activities
• Provide Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services: Sign Language Interpreters, Video remote interpreting, Real-Time Captioning, Closed Captioning
• Offer alternative testing: extended time on testing, proctored room with reduced distractions, scan, readers, and scribes

Postsecondary institutions are not required to:

• Provide specific auxiliary aids as long as the college provides a method of assistance that allows equal opportunity.
• Provide academic modifications if these modifications would fundamentally alter the nature of the course or program or place undue burden on the institution
• Lower admission criteria for applicants with disabilities
• Diagnose a disability or conduct testing and assessment of learning difficulties, physical, or mental impairments
• Provide personal attendants
• Provide personal or private tutors
• Prepare Individualized Education Programs (IEPs)

Differences in Policies and Procedures

High School

• The school is responsible for identifying students with disabilities.
• The school must provide the assessment of disability, classify disability, and involve parents.
• School staff will discuss academic progress with parents or legal guardians.
• The school must develop an Individualized Educational Program (IEP).
• The school must provide a free and appropriate education, including modified program and appropriate related services.
• The school must coordinate the provision of all services, monitor progress, and evaluate results.

College

• The student must self-identify or disclose their disability.
• The student must provide documentation of their disability to the Student Accessibility Services Department.
• The student is considered an adult with privacy and confidentiality protections. Staff cannot talk with parents or legal guardians about the student’s academic progress.
• The student must request specific accommodations and provide supporting evidence through documentation.
• The student must act as an independent adult to activate and obtain accommodations and structure weekly schedules.
• The college must provide reasonable accommodations for students who qualify.