Overview

After an agreement is in place between Eastern and a partnering school or school district, approved high school teachers, under the supervision of an Eastern academic department faculty liaison, deliver Eastern courses at their high school. High school teachers delivering these courses must meet the qualifications and requirements set for Eastern Connecticut State University adjunct faculty members. Eastern’s Dual Enrollment program provides high school students the opportunity to enroll in exciting and rigorous college courses to earn college credit as well as expand their academic prowess.

Programming and Partnerships

Eastern’s dual credit partnerships offer subjects that vary between Communication, English, Mathematics, Arts, Language, and various science course opportunities. The courses offered provide a collegiate course level between 100 and 200, typical course levels for incoming freshman and sophomore students. Specific courses being offered for Fall and Spring 2023 for communication are: Interpersonal Communication and Public Speaking. English courses offered are: Creative Writing and Intro to Literature. Math course options are Calculus I, Calculus II, and Math for Liberal Arts Plus. Arts courses are Studio Art Introduction, Drawing I, and Painting I. Language courses are Intermediate Spanish I and Intermediate Spanish II. Science courses are: General Physics I and II, Ecology and the Environment, Human Biology and Lab, Intro to Astronomy and Lab, and Healthcare Terminology. These are all courses typically taken by students in their first or second year at Eastern.

This provides students insight into majors they are interested in and the ability to earn credits that can be counted toward the required Liberal Arts Core Curriculum before enrolling at Eastern as a full-time undergraduate student.

Eastern has been affiliated with Bacon Academy, Coventry High School, E.O. Smith, Killingly High School, New London High School, Norwich Free Academy, RHAM, Rockville High School, Woodstock Academy, and Montville High School. Our current partnerships are all east of the Connecticut River, although Eastern does not have a specification to limit the geographic outreach for dual credit.

We are currently exploring an early science research program partnership with multiple Connecticut districts.

Student Eligibility

Juniors and Seniors are eligible to take courses through Eastern’s dual credit partnerships.

Instructor Credentials for Concurrent Enrollment Courses

Certified high school teachers must have a Master’s degree in a related content area. They are required to submit an application that includes a cover letter, resume, two letters of recommendation, undergraduate and graduate transcripts, and a proposed syllabus for each dual credit class they hope to conduct.

The appropriate academic department will vote to determine if applicants meet qualifications to teach Eastern course(s) as concurrent enrollment instructors.

Registration and Fees

To register for a dual credit course, the high school student and their parents, or their Guidance Counselor, must complete a Microsoft Form. Once the form is received, Eastern’s Registrar’s Office creates a university account and enrolls them in a designated dual credit course.

A “C” or higher is required to earn the dual credit course credits. Once credits are earned, this will be reflected on their Eastern transcript. Electronic transcripts are available to students at no charge.

The Spring 2023 deadlines were as follows:

• January 27 – Deadline for spring-only students to be entered in Registration form
• January 31 – Roster verification
• February 8 – Last day to drop courses with refund

Dual credit courses will be recorded on an official Eastern transcript. These credit(s) may be used to satisfy requirements at Eastern. If the student plans to attend another institution, the student should check with that school’s Admissions Office for transfer credit policies to determine the transferability of Eastern credits towards their degree requirements.

Generally speaking, all courses are at the 100-level or higher and should be transferable to any accredited university.

Dual credit courses cost $25 per credit. Most courses are 3 credits ($75).

In 2022-23, each partner high school was eligible for up to two scholarships of $100 each. Guidance counselors were responsible for nominating up to two students.

Last year, we awarded a total of $775 in scholarships which covered classes for 8 separate students.

Supports for Multilingual Families

We rely on resources in place at the high schools for supporting multilingual learners and families whose primary language is not English.

Contact Information

Chris Drewry
Director of Co-Curricular Academic Programming
drewryc@easternct.edu
860-465-4543
https://www.easternct.edu/academic-services/early-college-experience.html