Students are able to squeeze 6 years of schooling into 4 years because college classes are dual enrollment classes.  This means that the college classes also count for high school credit.  Instead of taking traditional high school elective courses like band, art, business or others, students take college classes.  These college classes are the core academic classes of the first 2 years of college.  When students take the college Health/PE, Spanish, English, and World Civilizations classes, they actually count for the high school Health/PE, foreign language, English IV, and World History graduation requirements.  All other college classes count as high school elective credit.

Not Necessarily.At the Early College, students move very quickly through high school math.  They complete Math I, II, III and Pre-Calculus in the 9th and 10th grade years.  They begin taking college math during their junior year.  Therefore, it is important that everyone has a firm understanding of the concepts in Math I before continuing. However, if you have taken Math I and/or Math II and through demonstrated mastery on the teacher-made assessment ( upon entering the early college program in August) in addition to other data that support mastery of Math I and/or Math II content, you will be able to select another course or advance your math placement at this time.

Students begin taking college classes during their their 9th grade year.  During that year, they will take 1 college class each semester.

The college classes that 9th graders take have no prerequisites or placement test requirements.  Starting in 10th grade, students must pass the Accuplacer tests in Reading, Writing, and Math to qualify for college classes.  Students not qualifying will be required to take remedial English and/or Math courses.

Students do not have to choose between the associate in arts and the associate in science until their 10th grade year. 

Students wishing to take courses during the summer may be required to pay additional costs including tuition, fees, and books. However, there are times when we have college textbooks available and are able to waive any additional textbook costs.

We don't have to offer AP courses as the Early College RCCC courses carry the same academic weight and transfer to 4 year colleges and universities just as AP courses transfer. However, for the high school American History course that students take in 10th grade, we do allow students to sit for the AP US History Exam for  AP credit.

Class Length

High School AP -

AP English and AP History (Semester)

AP Math and AP Science (Full Year)

Early College -

 All classes are semester length

College Credit Criteria

High School AP -

Must pass the high school AP course and make a 3 or better on the AP Exam

Early College -

 Must pass the college course with a C or better

Credit Earned

High School AP -

1 High school credit

3 or 4 credit hours for college

Early College -

1 High school credit

3 or 4 credit hours for college

High School GPA Weight  

High School AP, IB, and College Courses all carry the weight of an additional 1pt.

 Ex.  96 in the class = 5.0

College GPA

High School AP -

While college credit can be earned for the course, the course will not count towards college GPA.

Early College -

Each college course taken at the Early College directly counts towards college GPA.

Ex.

High School AP – Student takes 5 out of 8 AP courses

Early College – Student takes 19 out of 21 college courses

No.  A student can graduate the Early College High School with just their high school diploma.  The college credits a student earned during high school are transferable to other state institutions; however, the student would need to complete the college Core 44 requirements to have all of the credits eligible for transfer.

Students electing to continue at the Early College for a super senior year will postpone graduation until the end of the 5th year.  This allows for the student to finish the associate degree free of charge.  Students who do not complete the associate degree, graduate at the end of the 4th year, and then want to finish the degree at RCCC will be responsible for all of the remaining costs.

Yes.  Any student may elect to stay for a super senior year in order to finish the associate degree.

No.  Super seniors will not participate in graduation ceremonies at the end of their 4th year.  Instead, they will participate in graduation at the end of their 5th year.

All of the schools in the University of North Carolina System will accept credits earned at RCCC as long as the student has completed the Core 44 general education requirements.  Students earning less than the Core 44 will have to see which credits are accepted.  Students wanting to attend private or out of state institutions will need to check with those institutions to see what credits will transfer from a NC community college.

This does not mean that you can't explore outside of NC. MANY out of state schools LOVE to see that you challenged yourself by completing high school through an Early College. Call their admissions office and they will tell you exactly what they are looking for and how they recruit early college students.

The link to Transfer Navigator on CFNC’s website is extremely helpful.  After you create a login with CFNC, you can search for the courses you have taken at RCCC and select the school you are transferring to.