? VA State Dual enrollment credits freshman status...

[Homeschoolmom3]

I have gone round and round with different people from colleges, HEAV, and counselors from public schools.  My question has anyone who is in the state of VA and has had their child take dual enrollment courses and then attend a college in VA.....Is there a cut off for how many credit hours you can take before loosing freshman status for scholarships?  My son wants to attend Liberty U. and they said they would still be considered a freshman in their eyes with no matter how many credits for where scholarships are concerned but what about government or other scholarships or if he is able to pull off the Merit scholarship is there a cap?  Thanks so much for your help!!!

[G5052]

It REALLY varies. You need to ask the schools directly because each one has a different policy for dual enrollment.

 

Sorry, but there's no consistent state-wide policy, even among the state schools.

 

At George Mason University you can bring in any number of credits as long as they are dual enrollment credits, and at UVA you have to have less than 24 in a year and each program evaluates the transcript.

 

Go figure...

[Homeschoolmom3]

It is crazy and I am so confused!  So from what I understand what credits the colleges accept vary in regards to scholarships but does that include what govt. scholarships give use as a standard as well?  Like for instance with the merit scholarship?  I hope I am making sense.  :confused1:

[G5052]

I remember one merit scholarship that said no more than 15 hours of dual enrollment. In other cases they didn't care. There are some institutional scholarships that may be based primarily on scores, and others that have all sorts of "different" requirements such as where you live, certain activities, only for first-generation college students, etc. etc. If you get a scholarship donated by someone, they have the right to define whatever criteria.

 

I'm sorry, but it's basically anyone's guess what you'll get until you get it. Talk to the college folks to get an idea, but you really can't line it all up ahead of time.

 

 

[Sebastian (a lady)]

It is crazy and I am so confused!  So from what I understand what credits the colleges accept vary in regards to scholarships but does that include what govt. scholarships give use as a standard as well?  Like for instance with the merit scholarship?  I hope I am making sense.  :confused1:

 

I'm not sure which scholarships you are thinking about.  Are there particular programs you are looking at?

 

The National Merit Scholarship, which uses the PSAT as a qualifying test does not have a cap on dual enrollment credits as far as I can see.  The student guide (at the link) says that to be eligible a student must be enrolled in their final year of high school and intend to enroll full time in college in the fall or be in the first year of college if grades 9-12 were completed in three years or less.

 

When you think about credits earned as a dual enrolled high school student, you need to be sure you understand how the word credit is being used.  The student will earn credit at the college where they are taking classes.  They may also have credit granted by their high school (or home school).  There are a couple different ways of assigning high school credit for the college credit.  One common method is 1 high school annual credit for each semester college class (which are often 3-4 college credits).  There are some variations to this, particularly with courses that are also commonly taught in high school like algebra.

 

When a student transfers, it is up to the new school to determine which credits transfer to the new school and what they are considered the equivalent of for the purposes of a degree at the new school.  It is pretty easy to determine if a chemistry or calculus course met the same requirements as the corresponding course at the new school.  It is harder to decide what credit will be granted for something more unusual like a film appreciation course.  It's also more direct when the community college has a written agreement with the 4 year school.  These articulation agreements often lay out exactly which courses transfer and what they are accepted as.  

 

FWIW, it is not uncommon to discourage or disallow validation or transfer in majors courses.  So for example, a biology major might not get credit for AP Biology or a CC biology course, which an English major with the same previous coursework might get credit towards the degree.

 

Finally there is the question of if the transfer credit does any good for the student.  A student majoring in physics who has several credits in English might not have many places in his degree plan for those transfer credits to fulfill requirements.  

 

This page has information about transferring credit from NOVA Community College to 4 year schools.  Keep in mind that some of the information will be written with the expectation that students have already graduated from high school when attending the CC.  Dual enrollment adds some wrinkles.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

If your kid is planning on attending Liberty, then this page on dual enrollment and transfer agreements may help.  

[Homeschoolmom3]

Thanks everyone for your help!  It seems there is no definite answer and we are just trying to weigh out all the options before diving in.  Thanks for the links too, will continue to comb through them.

[G5052]

Thanks everyone for your help!  It seems there is no definite answer and we are just trying to weigh out all the options before diving in.  Thanks for the links too, will continue to comb through them.

 

Yup. No definite answer. Sorry!

 

It has gotten better though. I've taught at state community colleges since 1998, and believe me, it's much more formal and explicit now even if each college is a little different.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I'm not sure what you mean when you say government scholarships.  If you could be more specific about what you mean, it might help people give better insights.

 

I did recently hear that there might be a cap on credits earned if a student was trying to get an Army ROTC college scholarship, however others who had experience pointed out that their kid retained eligibility by having the college they wanted to do ROTC at write a letter stating that they were being accepted as freshmen, not with upperclass standing.