1 Dual Enrollment Handbook Abington High School And Penn State Abington I. Welcome On Tuesday, February 10, 2009, the Abington School Board approved a program allowing junior and senior students at Abington High School to take college courses at Penn State Abington. Although high school students have been taking courses at Penn State Abington in the past, this is the first formal agreement between a high school and Penn State Abington. Penn State Abington is committed to making this a positive collegiate experience for the Abington High School students, while balancing an equally important concern for the enrolled college students on campus. II. Working with Guidance Counselor to Select Courses Before a student applies to the High School Dual Enrollment Program, the student must meet with his/her Guidance Counselor to discuss the course(s) that are available that semester at Penn State Abington. A pre-approved list of course offerings will be supplied to the Abington High School Guidance Office for each semester, and Penn State Abington¶s public course schedules can be found at www.abington.psu.edu. Once the student has confirmed the class (es) he/she would like to take, and the Guidance Counselor has approved the choice(s), the student must submit the formal application to Erica Pulaski at Penn State Abington. (See Attachment A, page 6) Important points to keep in mind when choosing classes: • Abington High School limits each student to two courses per academic year. • Penn State Abington allows a maximum of three Abington High School students in the same course section per semester. • Courses are available to Abington High School students based on the space available after our degree seeking students get priority registration. • Courses required for our degree-seeking students¶ majors may not be available to Abington High School students depending on the number of available seats in the sections. Examples are BIO129 and IST 110. It is recommended that students select alternate courses in case they cannot get into their first course choice. 2 III. Admissions Standards & Process Students must be in their junior or senior year at Abington High School in order to apply for the High School Dual Enrollment Program. To be approved for this program, the following materials need to be submitted: • High school transcript (with a copy of a standardized test score if the student is a high school junior; test scores are not required for high school seniors) • Letter of permission and support from parent • Letter of support from guidance counselor with specific Penn State Abington course(s) and schedule number(s) • Completed Non-degree application • Confidentiality waiver²so Penn State can release grades back to Abington High School Application materials are mailed to: Erica Pulaski Penn State Abington 1600 Woodland Road Abington, PA 19001 The application package must be submitted to Erica Pulaski by May 29, 2009 for the Fall 2009 Semester; by December 1, 2009 for the Spring 2010 semester; and by April 1, 2010 for Summer 2010. Erica Pulaski has the authority to review the applications and admit or deny admission to high school seniors. Admissions applications for high school juniors are submitted to Erica Pulaski who forwards them to University Park for review and approval or denial. Their decision is then forwarded to Erica Pulaski, who will communicate it to the student. IV. Costs and High School Scholarship Information All students accepted into the High School Dual Enrollment Program will be awarded a ³High School Scholarship´ by Penn State Abington that covers one-half the cost of the student¶s tuition. The High School Scholarship applies to a maximum of eight credits per semester. Current cost of tuition for Fall 2008 through Summer 2009 is $445/credit. Tuition costs increase each year, when Penn State¶s Board of Trustees meets in July. Use these costs only as an estimate for the following academic year. 3 Cost of one 3-credit course A 3 credit course's tuition is: $1335. Penn State's High School Scholarship covers half the cost of tuition: $1335. - $667.50 = $667.50 Additional fees students must pay for a 3 credit class: Technology Fee = $75. Activity Fee = $23. Facilities Fee = $31. TOTAL FEES = $129. $667.50 + $129. = $796.50 Cost of two 3-credit classes, totaling 6 credits (if the student enrolls for two courses in the same semester) 6 credits tuition = $2670. Penn State's High School Scholarship covers half the cost of tuition: $2670. - $1335. = $1335. Additional fees students must pay for a 6 credits: Technology Fee = $164 Activity Fee = $56 Facilities Fee = $75 TOTAL FEES = $295 $1335 + $295= $1630. Payment Options Our bookstore states that the average cost of books for a student taking 1 or 2 classes is $50-$250/semester. V. Course Registration Once a student¶s application for the High School Dual Enrollment Program has been approved, Erica Pulaski is responsible for working with Penn State Abington¶s Scheduling Office. She will schedule the students into their approved class (es), and notify the student that they have been accepted and awarded the High School Scholarship. VI. Process for Becoming a Penn State Abington Student Students will receive written instructions from our Scheduling Office explaining how to get their PSU Photo ID taken, how to activate their Penn State Access Account, eLion Account, and how to pay their tuition bill. A. Getting your Penn State ID and Penn State Computer Access Account Student ID¶s and Access Accounts enable students to use campus computer labs, send and receive e-mail, access their academic records and information, and explore worldwide internet services. 4 B. Paying your Penn State Tuition Bill • eLion eLion is an electronic gateway that allows students to manage their academic records at Penn State. This is also where students receive and pay their bills. Penn State does not send paper bills in the mail. Students can give their parents access to their online bills through a simple process in eLion. • Payment Timeline It is important to note that not every student will have the exact same due date for their semester bill. Bill dates are based on when a student schedules the course. However, bills will be due during the following time frames for these semesters: Fall 2009 Bills due between August 8th and August 24th Spring 2010 Bills due between December 4th and January 11th Summer 2010 TBA If the tuition bill is not paid after the first month of class, the student will be cancelled from the class. Payment Options • Students can pay their tuition bill on-line through their eLion account with a credit card or e-check. They can also pay in person in the Bursar¶s Office, Sutherland Building with a personal check. Financial Aid • Aside from Penn State Abington¶s High School Scholarship and a possible grant through Abington High School (if eligible for the grant), there is no financial aid available for non-degree courses. The student is responsible to pay any outstanding balance on the bill. • Tuition Refund Schedule If the student drops the class within the first week of classes, he/she will be refunded 90% of the tuition. For every week after that the student loses an additional 10% off of their refund. If the student drops the class in the 10th week or later in the semester, there is no refund. • Failure to Pay ± Course Cancellation Deadline If the tuition bill is not paid after the first month of class, the student will be cancelled from the class. C. Parking on Campus Parking at Penn State Abington is free, but it does require a valid parking permit. After the Photo ID is secured by the student, the student can obtain the parking permit in the Security Office, Rydal Building. The student will need to present the ID, a valid driver¶s license, and a current registration form. Students can park on campus, if spaces are available or in either of the off-campus alternative parking lots. One of the lots is located at Huntingdon & Susquehanna Streets, and the other lot is located within the Target parking lot on Rt. 611. A free van service is available from the alternative lots to campus. During peak class times (9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.) students are encouraged to use the off-campus parking lots. 5 D. Buying your Books On the first day of class, professors will inform students via their course syllabus what books are required for each class. Books can be purchased at our on-campus Barnes & Nobles bookstore. Check on-line for bookstore hours. http://psuabington.bncollege.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/BNCBHomePage VII. Academic Calendar A. Summer 2009 Session II 1. First day to register for classes ± available now (See Attachment C, page 6) 2. First day of classes ± Monday, June 29 3. Add/drop period ± Monday, June 29 through Thursday, July 2 4. No classes ± Friday, July 3 5. Last day to drop ± Tuesday, July 28 6. Last day to withdraw ± Thursday, August 6 7. Last day of classes ± Thursday, August 6 8. Final exams ± administered during the final days of classes B. Fall 2009 1. First day to register for classes ± Monday, April 13 (See Attachment D, page 6) 2. First day of classes ± Monday, August 24 3. No classes ± Labor Day (Monday, September 7) 4. Add/drop period ± Monday, August 24 through Wednesday, September 2 5. Last day to drop ± Friday, November 13 6. No classes ± Thanksgiving Break (Monday, November 23 ± Friday, November 27) 7. Last day to withdraw ± Friday, December 11 8. Last day of classes ± Friday, December 11 9. Final exams ± Monday, December 14 through Friday, December 18 C. Spring 2010 1. First day to register for classes ± To be announced 2. First day of classes ± Monday, January 11 3. Add/drop period ± Monday, January 11 through Wednesday, January 20 4. No classes ± Martin Luther King Day (Monday, January 18) 5. No classes ± Spring Break (Monday, March 8 through Friday March 12) 6. Last day to drop ± Friday, April 9 7. Last day to withdraw ± Friday, April 30 8. Last day of classes ± Friday, April 30 9. Final exams ± Monday, May 3 through Friday, May 7 D. Summer 2010 Session II 1. First day to register for classes ± To be announced 2. First day of classes ± Monday, June 28 3. Add/drop period ± Monday, June 28 through Thursday, July 1 4. Last day to drop ± Tuesday, July 27 5. Last day to withdraw ± Thursday, August 5 6 6. Last day of classes ± Thursday, August 5 7. Final exams ± administered during the final days of classes VIII. Transferring Penn State Grades to Abington High School Transcript A. Penn State grading scale ± two grade-point averages are computed • Semester GPA - Courses completed for the specific semester. • Cumulative GPA - All courses completed while at Penn State. Grade A AB+ B BC+ C D F Grade Point 4.00 3.67 3.33 3.00 2.67 2.33 2.00 1.00 0.00 B. Process for bringing Penn State grades to your Abington High School transcript: • Sign the ³Consent To Release Education Records´ and attach it to the completed ³Nondegree Student Application´ for submission to Erica Pulaski. (See Attachment B, page 6) • Each semester after grades have been posted, Erica Pulaski will request that grades be sent from the Penn State Registrar¶s Office to the Abington High School Counseling Office for each Abington High School student has signed a consent form. • The consent form will need to be resubmitted for every semester that a student enrolls in a course at Penn State Abington. • Abington High School will transfer the Penn State grade to the student¶s high school transcript using the school¶s A, B, C, D, F grading scale. IX. A. B. C. D. Attachments Nondegree Student Application Consent to Release Education Records Summer 2009 Schedule of Approved Classes Fall 2009 Schedule of Approved Classes