Early College Start at Austin Community College allows juniors and seniors the opportunity to earn college credit while in high school. These courses are “dual credit” if used to satisfy the high school graduation requirement, “co-enrollment” if taken for college credit only, or “credit-in-escrow” if part of an approved Tech Prep Articulation Agreement.

Why is Early College Start a good thing to consider?
• Students get a head start on earning college credit
• Tuition will be waived
• College-level work can enhance self-esteem, education, and career goals
• Many courses are transferable to other public colleges and universities

Students may enroll in college while still enrolled in high school to extend learning or accumulate college hours. To take college courses (co-enrollment or dual enrollment), students must receive counselor, Transition Coordinator and parent prior approval. Students must be considered full-time high school students. Students must meet the entrance requirements including college entrance exams and are responsible for the application and registration process. This process is time sensitive and may take one to four weeks to complete. Students may enroll in two courses per college semester beginning the summer following their sophomore year. Students pay all costs associated with the courses except tuition. Students should check with colleges to be sure that they will accept dual or co-enrollment courses. All co-enrollment credit, dual credit and Tech Prep articulated courses may meet advanced measures criteria for the Distinguished Achievement Program.

ACC Online Course Schedule
How to transfer from a Texas community college to a four-year university
How to transfer from community college to a university
ACC campus video tours
College Connection Scholarship information (for graduating seniors going to ACC)
Texas Initiative Standards - testing scores required for students to take college classes

Credit earned through dual credit enrollment counts for both college and high school credit in a core content area or an elective and fulfills high school graduation requirements. Students must submit an official transcript to the district in order to receive high school credit if they do not allow ACC to report the credit for them. To receive credit, the grade in the course must be a C or better; to receive Distinguished Achievement Program credit, the grade must be a B or better. If all conditions are met, credit is given for the course but is not used to determine grade point average (GPA).

Listed in the chart are the courses that are currently approved for dual credit with Austin Community College. This list is subject to change. Students should check with the campus guidance office for the most recent list of approved courses.

Credit earned through co-enrollment counts only for college credit. Students who are granted release time for co-enrollment must meet all district requirements for graduation. Co-enrollment courses do not appear on a student’s high school transcript, do not count for high school graduation, and are not used to determine grade point average (GPA). The Texas Legislature has approved 42 core lower-division course credit hours that will be transferable to any Texas public college or university. This list can also be found on the Austin Community College website.

Tech Prep articulated courses are a way to start a college technical major while in high school. In a Tech Prep program, students begin a course of study in high school and continue in a community or technical college. These courses are college technical courses taught at the high school as part of an agreement between a school district and Austin Community College.

Once a student enrolls in ACC and completes at least one course, the student can request the credit earned while in high school (credit in escrow). Students will register for articulated courses during their Career and Technical Education classes through the on-line CATEMA (Career and Technology Education Management Application) system. With a grade of 80 or above, these credits are held in escrow and then placed on the student’s college transcript, free-of-charge. Students who plan to transfer should check other post-secondary institutions to ensure that they will accept Tech Prep articulated courses.

Tech Prep articulated courses focus on academic, technical, problem-solving, and critical-thinking skills to prepare students to be qualified technicians in America’s highly competitive work force. The abstract learning process also prepares students for advanced course work required at the college level. Tech Prep articulated courses may be applied towards the Distinguished Achievement Graduation Program as advanced measures with a grade of 80 or above.

Through Tech Prep, students are enrolled in a course of study that prepares them to obtain a four-year degree, an associate degree, a two-year vocational certificate, or to directly enter the work force better prepared to be successful employees.

See chart below for the courses which currently have articulation agreements in place with ACC.

College Connection is a partnership between Austin Community College and Leander ISD that promotes college access and success. College Connection increases the number of LISD graduates entering college by taking all LISD seniors through the college enrollment process at ACC. The college enrollment process can be intimidating for students. The goal is to remove the “mystery” of how college entrance works. Students will be given the opportunity to participate in events that include assistance with the ACC admission application, financial aid, ASSET/COMPASS placement testing, tours of ACC campuses, orientation and advising. Graduating seniors will receive their letter of acceptance to ACC as part of their graduation portfolio packet.

Texas Initiative Standards - testing scores required for students to take college classes
College Connection Scholarship Information