SOUTHWEST GEORGIA STEM CHARTER SCHOOL 

Dual Enrollment Guidelines

The Dual Enrollment (DE) Program is for high school students.  The program allows students to pursue postsecondary study while receiving dual high school and college credit for courses successfully completed at the college.  Courses taken in this program must come from the approved DE Course Directory - refer to www.gafutures.org.  Each postsecondary institution has different testing and admission requirements for participating in DE. Students may take courses from any approved postsecondary institution.  Students enrolled at Southwest Georgia STEM Charter School (SGSC) who wish to participate in DE are required to adhere to the following guidelines:

  • Students in grades and 11 and 12 are eligible to participate in the Dual Enrollment Core Course Plan of Study offered.
  • Students pursuing the DE Core Course Plan of Study must take the courses available each semester in the sequence offered. 
  • Each semester, students earn one unit of high school credit for 3 to 5 hour courses passed at the college level.  For a one hour or two-hour college course, students would earn .5 units of high school credit.  Grades for courses taken at college will be placed on the high school transcript and will count in your high school HOPE GPA.  Some colleges only give letter grades.  These will be converted to numerical grades and placed on the high school transcript as follows:   A = 95, B = 85, C = 75, D = 70, F = 65. If the college reports a number grade, that grade will be used.
  • Southwest Georgia STEM Charter School adds .5 point honor weight to DE courses taken in the academic core areas. 
  • The HOPE Scholarship adds a .5 point honor weight to DE courses taken in academic core areas, not to exceed a 4.0.  For example, a “B” (which is a 3.0 on the 4.0 GPA scale) in English 1101 would convert to a 3.5 for HOPE purposes.  However, an “A” would remain a 4.0 for HOPE purposes.
  • Grades earned at the college can negatively affect the student’s GPA.  This could affect eligibility for the HOPE Scholarship after high school graduation.  Failing a DE course could prevent the student from graduating on time.  A student who fails a DE course will not be allowed to participate in the DE program the following semester.
  • If a DE course is offered on campus at SGSC, students may not take that particular course away from the SGSC campus (at the college and/or on-line). 
  • Students enrolled at SGSC must be enrolled in a combination (SGSC and postsecondary institution) of at least six classes - Study Hall DOES NOT count as one of the six classes.
  • Students enrolled at SGSC who participate in DE are required to report to their assigned DE facilitator and advisor. 
  • DE students who take DE course equivalents of the following courses are required to take the Milestone Assessment:  American Literature and Biology (unless Biology was already taken in high school).  The Milestone Assessment will count 10% of the final grade in the course for SGSC purposes only, with the letter grade counting 90%.  College transcripts will report the final letter grade earned in the course.  It is the student’s responsibility to get dates and times for the Milestone Assessment. 
  • College credit obtained at one postsecondary institution may or may not be transferred for credit to another institution.  It is the student’s responsibility to make sure that any college courses taken will transfer to the institution they plan to attend. The student is responsible for obtaining and sending the college transcript. 
  • Students may not begin participating in DE for the first time in the spring semester, with the exception of seniors who receive administrative approval.
  • Beginning Spring Semester of 2024, withdrawing from a DE course after the drop/add deadline will result in a grade of “F” on the SGSC transcript for that course.
  • Students may not contact colleges about dropping a course without approval from their advisor. Withdrawing from courses in DE is highly discouraged. After two withdrawals, the student will no longer be eligible for DE Courses.

 

Updated 12-18-23