Information for Students and Parents
Dual Credit Information for Students and Parents
What is Dual Credit?
Dual Credit is a way of earning high school and college credit simultaneously for a college level course that is taught at the high school location. Students wishing to obtain college credit must officially enroll for the course and pay college tuition.
Dual credit courses may make a high school student's transition into college level demands smoother, while they still have the support of their high school staff. The completion of dual credit courses may also shorten the length of time required to complete a college degree.
Differences Between Dual Credit Courses and Regular High School Courses
Students taking a course that is offered for dual credit are required to meet the same prerequisites for each course that would be required if they took the same course on the college campus. This often means obtaining a certain test score on the ACT, ASSET, or COMPASS test, or having completed a prerequisite course for college credit. The Coordinating Board for Higher Education also requires that all students participating in dual credit have a minimum overall grade point average of 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale), or the equivalent, and be recommended by the high school principal.
High School juniors and seniors who meet the above requirements will be eligible for dual credit courses. Under special circumstances, freshman and sophomores with superior academic talents may take dual credit courses. Please contact the Coordinator of Dual Credit 447-8241 for specific details.
Students must pay for the course and follow official procedures for registering (and for withdrawing from classes if they choose not to complete them due to poor grades, etc.). This includes registering on or before the deadline date. Dual credit registration may occur at a high school several weeks into the high school's semester. The deadline to enroll is five working days after OTC conducts registration at a given high school.
Due to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) regulations, parents are not allowed to access their son or daughter's college academic record without the student's written permission. (This is true even when the parent is paying for the course.)
Registration Information
Some courses may last the full length of the school year at the high school level and cover the content required for two college semester courses. For example, senior English may be registered for as it were two separate college courses: students register for ENG 101 in the fall semester and for ENG 102 in the spring semester. Other courses may last the whole year at the high school level, but be the equivalent of only one semester in college. When this is the case, registration would not take place until the spring semester even though the class would have been in progress since August. Whether a dual credit course requires one semester or a full year before resulting in a semester's worth of college credit, depends upon what is covered in the course and the agreement between the given school and OTC.
Payment Information
Payments must be made online How to Access Your myOTC Account
- Access your myOTC account at my.otc.edu
- Click on What's My User Name tab
- Complete the required information to obtain your user name (user ID)
- Login using your OTC Username and Password
To Make Debit/Credit Card Payment
- Once logged into your myOTC account, click on the Access OTC tab
- Scroll down to Financial Information
- Click Quick Pay
- Enter payment information
Preparing to Register for a Dual Credit Course
Prior to the day of registration, students need to visit with their high school dual credit instructor and their high school counselor to learn more about dual credit expectations. Students need to obtain a copy of their ACT scores and determine whether or not their scores meet the criteria for the course(s) they wish to take. If the scores do not meet the criteria, the student may elect to visit the OTC campus and take the COMPASS placement test.
On the day of registration, students should bring ACT or COMPASS test score results (scores must meet the required minimums listed below) and their social security number. Student can register by following the steps found here.
Minimum Placement Scores
| COURSE | ACT | COMPASS | |||||||
| ENG 101 | English | 18 | Writing | 70 | |||||
| MTH 130 | Mathematics | 23 | Algebra | 66 | |||||
| MTH 131 | Mathematics | 26 | College Algebra | 46 | |||||
| MTH 140 | Mathematics | 27 | Trigonometry | 46 |