ECE Student Support Services and Information
Advising Information
Advising
Each full time student is assigned an advisor. Please schedule an appointment with your
advisor before registering for courses to be sure that you are selecting the correct courses. If
you do not have an advisor assigned to you, contact the Academic Advising office at NCC to get
one. Part-time students may also contact the Academic Advising office for assistance with
selecting courses. The Program Profile details the courses you take. Use this Profile as a
guide for selecting the courses for which you will register in preparation for meeting with your
advisor.
Tutoring
The NCC Learning Center provides free tutoring for campus and online students. Tutoring is
available for all ECE classes online and on campus. For more information visit their website at:
http://www.northampton.edu/Student-Resources/Learning-Center.htm
Financial Aid: Do you Need Help Paying for Your Tuition and Expenses?
If you are employed in an early care and education or school age childcare program in
Pennsylvania you may be eligible to receive tuition from one of these state-funded programs.
PA Keys sponsors a tuition voucher program that provides tuition refund for up two
courses annually. Visit their web site for more information: www.pakeys.org or phone
(800-284-6031).
Loan Forgiveness Program is available to ECE graduates who work in a childcare
program. Visit the web site for more information:
http://www.pheaa.org/funding-opportunities/loan-forgiveness/index.shtml
Contact the NCC Financial Aid Office for other financial aid opportunities:
http://www.northampton.edu/Admissions/Financial-Aid.htm
Transfer Information
Beginning September 2012, under TAOC agreement, graduates of two year programs from
community colleges can seamlessly transfer to four year PA state higher education institutions.
All students are required to build TAOC portfolios for seamless transfer. This is required for
graduation. NCC is developing a seamless program-to-program transfer articulation agreement
with many four year universities. These agreements provide a seamless transfer into a Pre KGrade-4 Certification Program in Pennsylvania. Qualifications will include a 3.0 or higher GPA
at NCC and passing PAPA scores in reading, writing, and mathematics.
After you are accepted into a four-year college, you must typically be accepted into the
education department. The Pennsylvania Department of Education has established guidelines
that all colleges/universities must follow for allowing students to study in, and graduate from,
teacher certification programs.
It is crucial that if you expect to transfer you do the following:
Visit/contact the head of the education department where you will be transferring to
ensure that your courses transfer and count toward the BA degree.
Take the PAPA exams during your third semester at NCC. If you need higher scores
there is still time to retake the exam.
Maintain a 3.0 grade point average at NCC.
Meet with an NCC ECE Advisor and Transfer Counselor.
PAPA Examination
PAPA stands for Pre-service Academic Performance Assessment. PAPA is a new preprofessional skills test required for all teacher certification in the state of Pennsylvania only.
PAPA is computer-based only and must be taken at authorized Pearson VUE testing centers in
Pennsylvania. Results from the PAPA Exam are required for being accepted into a BA teacher
certification program. To register for the exam, go to http://www.pa.nesinc.com. It is best if you
take the exam before the beginning of your third semester at NCC.