A great way to squeeze a little extra college credit out of this academic year is through winter break, minimesters, or accelerated terms. You can expect that any regionally accredited college offering this option means excellent transferability for your teen. You may not know that some of these programs open registration during fall sign-up. (That’s now!!) Note: they fill up super fast.
We see a trend among colleges to fill each and every blank spot in their school year.
Some colleges have placed these courses online, making them accessible to anyone with a computer. Other schools require daily attendance, but just for a few days.
One of my favorite college classes was offered as a minimester through my local community college. The class took place entirely inside of Christmas break. I completed a 3-credit course that I transferred back to my regular degree program at my 4-year university. The course lasted only 14 days! I didn’t find the workload impossible (brisk, but doable).
Harvard University (Massachusetts) offers my other favorite winter option, called “January session.” Offered through their Continuing Education College, and take place for only 20 days in January! These courses are open to anyone age 15 or older (undergraduate level) or 18 and older for graduate credit. There is no application fee and no selection process. Simply enroll, and attend! (Harvard DOES have requirements for enrolling in their degree programs, the most significant is that your teen has to graduate high school first- but they can still take classes now! Read about Harvard classes for college credit here.)
Accelerated terms, winter sessions, January sessions, Minimesters, or programs like these are excellent classes for homeschooled students. Local colleges generally provide the lowest tuition rate to members of that community (sometimes for FREE) but if your school doesn’t have any options, don’t hesitate to look outside your community.
In almost every instance, courses completed at a traditional college via distance learning will not be distinguishable on a transcript. In other words, they do not indicate “online” on the student’s transcript.
If your local community college doesn’t have an option, try your local university! If you come up empty, try our HS4CC Out of State Dual Enrollment list. It is by no means complete, rather it is a curated list of programs that are either super homeschool friendly, super budget friendly, or have interesting classes. All of the out of state programs offer their classes online (some locally if you are a local resident).
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