HELP! Is my teen is applying to college soon, and I’m not sure if she should apply as a freshman or as a transfer student?
Earning college credit in high school prompts parents to often ask whether their teen is an incoming freshman or a transfer student. There is always a little confusion around the topic because “freshman” means 2 different things, but they often get mashed into meaning 1 thing – so let’s start with the two different definitions of “freshman.” Continue reading “College Freshman or a Transfer Student?”→
Sick of online classes? I received a message today from a HS4CC parent asking about paper-based correspondence classes. Some of you may remember a time when “distance learning” was actually a paper-based snail mail process. Though most have faded away, YES, I do keep a list of these programs if you’re interested in something a little different.
Here’s a curated list of scholarships your rising 12th grader can apply for right now! As always, I grabbed these from my favorite scholarship list JLV Consulting- love that site! Continue reading “Scholarships to Apply for NOW”→
Here’s a curated list of scholarships your rising 12th grader can apply for right now! As always, I grabbed these from my favorite scholarship list JLV Consulting- love that site! Continue reading “Scholarships to Apply for NOW”→
At the start of each month, I’m sharing excerpts from Homeschooling for College Credit second edition! I have several favorite sections that I refer to time and again, and I hope you enjoy them. Today’s section is from Chapter 4: High School Planning Continue reading “HS4CC Chapter 4”→
The last day of every month celebrates YOUR success!! Did your teen earn any college credit this month? If so, share below so we can celebrate with you!
I am not hosting this free event, but will be attending and am inviting you to sit in with me as we hear experts talk about this growing trend. Going into this event, my opinion is strongly against the idea, but let’s hear what they have to say- it might even change my mind! Learn more below.
Arizona State University’s Earned Admissions and High School Programs reached out to Homeschooling for College Credit to get feedback from the homeschool community on their programs and to offer the opportunity to participate in their beta program for their new self-paced classes being added to their course line up:
BIO 100 BioBeyond, (Biology course) 4cr total, listed as 3cr Science w/1 cr lab course on the transcript. Course Description and Course Syllabus.
SES 106 Habitable Worlds (Natural Science course). 4cr total, listed as 3cr Science w/1 cr lab course on the transcript. Course Description and Course Syllabus.
ENG 194 Poetry in America 3cr course. Not self-paced.
These courses are not open to the general public yet and are limited to the first 100 students registered in each. Poetry is full and is not accepting more students. According to ASU, they are expected to release these courses to the general public in 2021.
Beta Participation Details
Course cost: $400 payable at the end, and only if you like the grade. They will waive the $25 ID fee for those who tell them they’re signing up for the beta program through the HS4CC group over the next couple of weeks!
Course Duration: Self-Paced. Completed by August 31, 2021
Time to Pay: Up to 1 year after completion
Who: High school students
When: Sign up Now through 10/16/20 to take advantage of the $25 waiver. They’d love to have the slots filled over the next couple of weeks, however, each student has until 8/31/2021 to complete the course. A student could feasibly sign up now and start the course after their first Fall 8 or 16-week college courses are completed.
Senior EA Coordinator Derek Beck suggested that a parent may need to have some involvement in the two Science courses. Details about what that entailed were a bit sketchy, but this is a beta program, so it may be related to that. We look forward to hearing feedback from participating families. All labs are virtual and included in the cost of the program. Books, as always, are included online. There are no other fees. As with all Earned Admissions courses, you only pay at the end if you like the grade and would like it on a transcript.
Additionally, Derek said that the two new science courses have fewer math requirements than the two science courses they currently offer through the Earned Admissions program: Astronomy and Chemistry. Basic math skills such as fractions, basic operations, and exponents are required.
How to Sign Up
ASURITE Account
NEW Students who do NOT have an ASURITE ID can go to HS.ea.asu.edu and sign up for an ASURITE ID. This step can take 2-3 days.
Existing Students with ASURITE ID’s will need to be converted to their HS.ea.asu.edu portal. DO NOT SIGN UP FOR A NEW ACCOUNT – this will lock your account up in their system and cause delays. Continue to step 2, if you have not filled out the FERPA agreement previously. (this is new for most of us)
Please be sure to email the ASURITE ID, Student Name, AND the course you are interested in when you email them!!
2. FERPA
(Step added 10/2/20) New AND Existing students need to fill out the FERPA agreement to allow parents or guardians to speak with ASU staff about the student’s account. Please login to myASU and add the Parent/Guardian to the account by clicking on the “Add a Guest” and fill out the information.
3. Email for Enrollment and Waiver
Email your name, ASURITE ID, and the course(s) you want to: earned@asu.edu and tell them you’re with HS4CC and they will waive the $25 fee. Existing students who already had ASURITE ID’s prior to this beta program need to ALSO request that they be moved to the new HS portal.
4. Watch your Dashboard and email Accounts for updates from ASU
ASU is doing batch uploads on a weekly basis for those (existing users) requesting the portal change and all users requesting the new beta courses. There are manual, human processes involved in this piece, so please give them a little time to get things uploaded. When you email them, you should receive a response with a ticket number. Once it’s complete, they should send an email that they’ve been added and to upgrade the account for college credit.
5. Upgrade the Course
Log in to the dashboard using either the ea.asu.edu or hs.ea.asu.edu links, which should take you to the Dashboard. The requested courses should be there, along with any others the student is signed up for.
Click on Upgrade Course to upgrade the class for potential college credit. The normal fee for this is $25. A photo ID is required in this step also – see info above on qualifying ID’s.
When you check out, the fee should be ZERO, instead of $25. If it’s not, please contact earned@asu.edu. (if you have an issue, please try clearing your cookies and history before emailing them – this has worked for some)
6. Start the course and Report any issues
Start the course and report any issues to earned@asu.edu. As always, they should return a ticket number to you and may request more information. Please try to be specific and provide constructive feedback, so they can help you or resolve the issue.
The High School Program
All students under the age of 18 will be transferred over the next few months to the HS.ea.asu.edu portal, regardless of participation in the beta program above. The High School portal will look and feel the same as the Earned Admissions portal, but the High School students will see more classes than in the EA portal.
For those concerned that changing to the new HS.ea.asu.edu portal from the standard EA portal might mess up your current classes or pricing, Derek guarantees us this will not happen. They’ve already transferred many students to the new portal with no problem.
In the past, we were told that the High School program would have an increased cost associated with the college-level courses. We were assured in the meeting that the costs would remain the same as the Earned Admissions program, and there are no longer plans to change that.
ASU introduced a full K-12 program this year. More information on their high school program coming soon! You can also visit their site at: https://www.asuprepdigital.org/
(please be sure to use the correct URL address – I noticed there is another group using the .com version of this url that attempts to download software to your browser. ASU DOES NOT download software to you in order to access their site!!)
Why we Love the ASU EA and HS Programs
ASU’s Earned Admissions (EA) and High School (HS) programs provide low-cost, high-reward courses at a reasonable price of $400/course, paid at the end if you like the grade. Plus a $25 ID Fee normally paid upfront, but they’re waived for the Beta program for those who tell them they are with HS4CC.
There are no other fees.
Books, as always, are included free online.
Labs are either virtual or use common materials found at home.
As with all Earned Admissions courses, you only pay at the end if you like the grade and would like it on a transcript.
No placement test like TSI / ACCUPLACER, just sign up for a course and take it
No paperwork to turn in, or transcripts to send. Signing up for an ASURITE ID with the college is quick and easy. Once you have an ID, you can log in and sign up for classes. (this is often a 2-3 day process)
Open to any age – no restrictions. If the child can handle the work, they can take the course.
Course Prerequisites are a suggestion, not a restriction. If the student is able to do the higher-level work, he or she can take the course.
I love the self-paced courses, in particular, because they enable us to weave an extra course or two into my kids’ community college schedule without impacting the grades. We can adjust and spend more or less time on the self-paced classes, based on the demands of the less flexible community college courses. We can also squeeze an extra college class into a semester or between semesters without jeopardizing grades in any of the courses.
FAQ
Q: How long should it take to get an ASURITE ID?
A: It usually takes up to 2-3 days to get an ID and get into the system
Q: I have a problem and I’d like to call them… who can I call? https://ea.asu.edu/about/contact-us or earned@asu.edu (their main email for the program)
Q: Do I sign up for the courses in the portal or do they sign us up?
A: They will sign you up manually. Once you have your ASURITE ID, please send your ID, name and course number to earned@asu.edu. Don’t forget to tell them you are with HS4CC to have the $25 sign up fee waived! (expires 10/16/20)
Q: Do I need a photo ID?
A: Yes, all ASU courses require a photo ID. That can be a government issued ID, a school ID, Military or DoD or dependent ID, passport/passport ID, notarized College Board form with photo (used for AP/CLEP testing by underaged kids), and some have successfully used homeschool or co-op ID’s. If using a homeschool ID, ideally it would have their name, DOB, and Photo – must have a photo. If concerned, you could potentially combine one of these with a SS card or birth certificate. If you have concerns, please email or call them! You will use this ID when you upgrade the course for credit at the beginning of the course, and again for any proctored exams (some have proctored finals).
Q: Do these transfer to other colleges and are they accredited? A: Yes, they are accredited. ASU is a well known and well respected 4-year college.
As with EVERY class or exam, we always recommend you check with the colleges of interest to see how they transfer. I’ve personally verified classes like ENG101/102, College Algebra, etc transfer into our local (Texas) colleges exactly as they’d sound. I’ve also sent these two out for evaluation from the colleges too, but haven’t heard back. You’d ask for the contact info for the Transcript or Transfer specialist (or some similar job title), to find out if they transfer. Some colleges may have a transfer pathway already setup as well.
If you’re interested in transferring FROM your current program TO ASU for a 4 year degree, they have a Transfer Pathway page to help students plan their degree efficiently.
Q: I tried to login but I get an error saying my ID doesn’t exist
A: Be sure you are using the “Log in” link on the black bar on the ea.asu.edu or hs.ea.asu.edu pages, rather than the “sign in” link in the top far right corner. This is a known issue that has nothing to do with the portal change or the beta program. We tested it with adult ASURITE ID’s that had not changed portals and weren’t in the beta program and the same thing happened to them. It predates this change. Use the correct login link and you should land at the Dashboard as you normally would.
If you have a brand new ASURITE ID, it sometimes takes another 24hrs to log in once you receive it. If you still can’t login 24hrs after receipt of the ID, I would contact them. earned@asu.edu
I’ve been asked by a college to give them a little feedback about how they can serve the homeschooling community. I created a quick 10-question survey to aid me with this task. It should take you about 3 minutes. I can only collect 100 replies, so it’s first come-first served. It’s 100% anonymous in every way. Who should take this survey? Parents who are homeschooling a teen in grades 9-12. Thanks!! Take the survey
Special thanks to Frances for this amazing promo! Master Class is only $1 for the year if your teen has a .edu email address (if they are doing dual enrollment they likely do). I’ve had Master Class on my “I want really really bad but can’t spend the money on indulgent education that doesn’t generate college credit” list for over a year – I’m drooling!! For $1 you get their entire catalog- no limits. Seriously- go sign up!
