HS4CC operates Facebook groups for each of our 50 states, but we also have specialty groups that serve special segments of our community working around a common goal of earning college credit in a unique way. Our specialty HS4CC groups serve military families, degree planners, NCAA student athletes, and now we have a new group serving a new community- Arizona State University Earned Admission students!
Announcing
HS4CC Arizona State University Earned Admission Facebook Group
Arizona State University’s Earned Admissions program is a game-change for the Homeschooling for College Credit community.
History of ASU Earned Admission & HS4CC
ASU has been around forever, and several years ago they started offering free courses on the edX platform. I’ve written about this program, and especially their “Freshman Global Academy” that was part of my book, Homeschooling for College Credit (chapter 2, page 77). Since writing about the program in 2018, they have undergone such significant changes (and a name-change) that this new version is almost unrecognizable.
15 Reasons to Take Notice
ASU has been ranked as the #1 most innovative school in the country by U.S. News & World Report for the past 6 years in a row. Their program doesn’t target homeschoolers, but it just so happens to serve our HS4CC community in a unique and perfectly unexpected way.
- No age / grade level requirements – open to anyone
- No high school transcript required
- No admissions / placement tests to participate
- No in-state / out of state cost differences
- Costs only $25 to register
- No paper trail- withdrawal without creating an official college transcript
- Self paced and calendar based courses
- Fully online
- Taught by real ASU professors
- Receive a grade, if you like it, you can have it put on an official ASU transcript
- You have 1 year from the completion of your course to decide about adding the credit and pay the fee of $400 per course to do so. (not per credit)
- Since ASU is a Regionally Accredited 4-year university, credits should easily transfer into institutions that accept transfer credit.
- Students who want to stay at ASU for a degree are guaranteed admission.
- Students who stay at ASU can use AP, CLEP, and DSST for college credit.
- Resourceful students can participate in the Starbucks 100% free tuition program and complete the rest of their ASU degree online for free. (seriously)
This program works for our community so perfectly because it allows parents to enroll students without ANY RISK Parents often ask me how they can tell when their students are ready to try a college class, and that’s always just a judgement call. If they use ASU’s program, they can take the course ($25) and decide for themselves without any risk of repercussions. There is literally no obligation to finish or have the course added to an official high school or college transcript…. unless you want to.
Why consider ASU EA if my dual enrollment tuition is free?
This may not be the right program for everyone, but even if you have access to free tuition, but what this offers is an opportunity to participate without a papertrail. Currently, if your student enrolls in a dual enrollment program, an official transcript is generated. This requires future disclosure of the grade (or withdrawal) to every future college. Parents are often worried about this, especially in a high school student’s first semester of college level courses. ASU EA doesn’t carry that same risk.
A “splitting hairs” argument to consider is that all universities cap the number of community college courses a student can transfer in, and since dual enrollment programs are frequently taught at community colleges, some students may hit that cap before the end of high school. ASU EA courses are taught from a 4-year university thus not counted toward that cap.
Jennifer’s Advice: if you have free tuition for high school, use it! Your student can actually wait to start the ASU EA program after high school and still use it exactly as described here.
This past summer, a large number of our HS4CC members took advantage of a COVID promotion, resulting in a lot of activity and questions about this program. Our Texas HS4CC Moderator Andrea LaBass has served as our expert for this program, and now she has coordinated the creation of a HS4CC Facebook group dedicated fully to our members who are using this special program.
We have a lot of families with experience in this program who can provide feedback and advice for our new families. I encourage anyone here who has used or plans to use the ASU EA program to join our new Facebook group!
Homeschooling for College Credit does not have a financial relationship with ASU.
