ma23peas Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 Hi! I've been homeschooling for almost 10 years. I have a 6th, 7th and 9th grader...I wanted to share with you a pilot program at the University of Alabama that plans to be opened to students outside the state within the next year. It is a dual enrollment program, here is what is unique... 1. Your child is eligible with no SAT/ACT scores..it is solely based on their GPA of 3.0 or higher. 2. They may start their Spring year of 10th grade through their fall semester as a senior. 3. Your child can take up to 30 hours which still allows him/her to be considered as a true freshman entering and is still eligible for scholarships as a freshman at Alabama (you would have to check with other schools to see if they allow this...32 hours at UA is considered a sophomore) These credits are dual for high school and college, many SEC schools accept these credits..again, you'd need to check on specific schools that you're interested in to make sure they transfer. 4. Right now, you have to attend a orientation meeting at the campus, but when they open to students outside of AL they are trying to make this available online. All classes are online. 5. Your child is assigned a 'mentor' that is an active student that helps guide your student in his/her studies. 6. Subjects offered range from non-major sciences, language arts, foreign language (Chinese) and starting in June they will start math courses by having your child take a placement test online to see which course should be taken. 7. If your child takes 18+ hours and maintains a 2.5 they are automatically accepted into the University of Alabama, however if they want to be considered for scholarships they would need to give test scores. 8. As long as your child maintains a 2.5 they are given the scholarship..essentially it means that you save about 60-70% off the costs of a typical credit hour...if a course cost $900 for 3 credit hours, your cost would be around $250-$300..as long as your child maintains a 2.5 Right now this program is available to any high schooler (public/private/homeschooled) in the state of Alabama, this spring they hope to open it to neighboring states and by next year to all students. Their desire is to have children working on projects that cover all areas..your child could be working on an art history project with a student in Boston, Texas, Alabama through their online program. I think it is a potential help for families looking for upper math programs for their junior/senior as well. If you google UA early college you'll find their website...I just went to an informational meeting and thought their pilot program (started last June) had a great deal of potential for homeschooling families. I'll try and answer any questions if I can! Hope this helps and please share if any universities in your area are trying similar programs?? I know local community colleges here offer dual enrollment but UA seemed to offer a bit more than usual...thanks!! Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
April in CA Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 This sounds really interesting! Thanks for posting - I will be very interested when they allow non-residents to enroll. Thanks again! Blessings, April Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jlrothburnette Posted October 11, 2010 Share Posted October 11, 2010 Hello, and thank you for mentioning UA Early College! I just wanted to update you on the program, now that we are accepting applications from students across the United States. Students who live too far from Tuscaloosa to participate in an on-campus Gateway (orientation) session can instead take part in the Gateway ONLINE. Our next application deadline for these students is October 26, 2010 -- and you can see future deadlines and orientation sessions on our website: uaearlycollege.ua.edu Our students come from many different educational settings -- home schools, public schools, and private/independent schools. Thanks again for the mention, and please let us know if you have questions or if we can help in any way. All best wishes, Jennifer Roth-Burnette, Ph.D. Student and Parent Services UA Early College Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ma23peas Posted October 11, 2010 Author Share Posted October 11, 2010 Thanks for reminding me..my son will be in 10th grade next year...do you have any further information on what upper maths will be offered? Thanks! Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teachin'Mine Posted October 11, 2010 Share Posted October 11, 2010 Tara thank you so much for posting about this - it sounds like an awesome program! It's great to hear that it's now available to out of state students too. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rootsnwings Posted October 11, 2010 Share Posted October 11, 2010 Nice! However, it will take the next 6 years of convincing to get my die-hard AU fan to participate! :D This really is a great opportunity for students in AL though! I'm so happy to see these options becoming available. (especially to homeschoolers! ;)) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingersmom Posted October 11, 2010 Share Posted October 11, 2010 I just bookmarked the site so in about a year we will be ready. Thanks for posting the information! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ma23peas Posted October 11, 2010 Author Share Posted October 11, 2010 Nice! However, it will take the next 6 years of convincing to get my die-hard AU fan to participate! :D This really is a great opportunity for students in AL though! I'm so happy to see these options becoming available. (especially to homeschoolers! ;)) Well, I'm an AU grad, my Dad was an AU grad and hope all my three will be...but a credit is a credit and I guess we'll have to suck it up! :) Or Auburn needs to get in the game and start their own! :) Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in AL Posted October 11, 2010 Share Posted October 11, 2010 (edited) This looks like a great program ( I attended an info meeting in the spring), and I'm planning on having my dc enroll at some point----hopefully next fall for ds, but later for dd, as she's younger. I do know someone IRL who has a dd in an English class right now and so far thinks highly of it. As for being an Au fan.... well... the credits do transfer to any Uni in the state (and most likely anywhere, but those in the state guarantee it according to the info I got at the meeting) and it is on a regular "U of A" transcript. ;) Since my dc aren't sure where they are going to college, it doesn't matter to us at the moment where the classes come from as it's the diploma that will have the important info. As an aside, I'm willing to bet Auburn is watching this program closely. With more and more people turning to the 'net it could be a great income generator and a way to get more students the classes they need when they need them. I can't tell you how many classes I had to wait on when I was in school because two that I needed were offered at the same time! I would have *loved* to have online classes! Edited October 11, 2010 by Heather in AL Clarity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jlrothburnette Posted October 11, 2010 Share Posted October 11, 2010 Hi Tara, We are now offering MA 110 (Finite Mathematics), MA 112 (Precalculus Algebra) and MA 121 (Calculus for Business Majors). MA 113 (Precalculus Trig.) is under revision and will soon be available as well -- One of the things I really like about our courses is that they are revised on a regular basis, so are very up-to-the-minute in quality, interactivity, and technology. Students take the University's math placement test in order to be placed in the appropriate math course. In addition to the Maths, we have also recently added a Computer Science series, and are working with Engineering faculty on an Early Engineering track within UA Early College! Thanks again, and as always let me know if you have further questions. Jennifer Roth-Burnette, Ph.D. Student and Parent Services UA Early College Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jlrothburnette Posted October 11, 2010 Share Posted October 11, 2010 Heather, Thanks for the great point about transfer of credit! Although we love it when Early College students come to UA, we actually designed the program with versatility in mind, so that students would be able to transfer credits with them wherever they go. (As a graduate from three different schools -- LSU, UA and NYU -- and having had great experiences at each school, I'm delighted to see our students carry this credit wherever is the best fit for them!) Under the state articulation agreement (STARS), UA Early College credit transfers very easily to any public institution within the state of AL. In addition, UA Early College credit is transcripted as regular UA credit, and looks exactly the same (because in content and instruction, it IS the same) as credit generated by any full-time college freshman/sophomore. Any institution that accepts UA credit should accept this credit (and most do, both in and out of state, public and private). We had quite a few students take their UA Early College credit to AU this Fall, as well as to Tulane, LSU, Duke, Birmingham-Southern, UAB, UGA, UT, etc. About 65% of our graduating high school seniors in UA Early College ended up attending UA as freshmen this fall. As far as we know, all of our graduates did go to college somewhere. Thanks again, Jennifer Roth-Burnette, Ph.D. Student and Parent Services UA Early College Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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