CU Succeed Program
CU Succeed Program at Palmer High School
This is a program that offers choice and options to our diverse student population.
What is CU Succeed?
CU Succeed offers high school students the opportunity to earn high school and college credit concurrently. Through a partnership between Colorado Springs School District 11, Palmer High School, and the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (UCCS), Palmer High School students can enroll in select high school courses taken during the regular school day at Palmer High School and earn 3-5 semester hours of college credit from the University of Colorado (CU). The courses are taught by qualified high school teachers who hold an Honorarium Faculty Appointment with the university. At the end of the school year, students receive two separate transcripts for the course taken – one transcript from Palmer High School showing high school credit, and the other transcript from CU showing university credit (transcript must be ordered online). The university credit is commonly transferrable to other colleges as subject coursework or elective credit.
The CU transcript must be ordered through the university upon completion of the course; it's not delivered to the student automatically.
*2023-2024 CU Succeed Courses at Palmer High School
University of Colorado – Colorado Springs Courses 2022/2023 School Year - Spring Semester
|
Palmer Course Name |
CU Course Name |
Dept/Course # |
Credit Hours |
|
IB Physics SL Lohmann |
Physics of Life Science 1 - Algebra Based General Physics Lab 1 - Algebra Based |
PES 1010 & 1150 |
5 |
|
IB Computer Science SL5,SL6 Wybrant |
Principles of Computer Science | CS1150 | 3 |
|
AP Studio Art Dimidik |
Beginning Studio 2D | VA1010 | 3 |
* Course options are subject to change based on enrollment and teacher assignment.
Cost
The tuition, $50/semester credit hour at UCCS, is paid by the student. This is different than the past few years in which the school district covered the tuition cost. $50/credit hour is inexpensive for a college course. However, greater attention needs to be paid to how useful this college course is for the student. If it's a course the student plans to take in college, then taking the course in high school with inexpensive tuition is a good idea. Also, the college transcript is from the University of Colorado (UCCS, UCD, and CU at Boulder). If you're planning on attending one of these schools, then the CU Succeed course credits directly apply to university. If you plan to attend another state school, then most likely the course will transfer. If you go out-of-state then the class may or may not transfer, though elective credit is likely.
Is CU Succeed the Right Choice for Me?
While taking a high school course and earning college credit is enticing, there are a few factors worth considering in addition to the cost:
- Grades earned in CU Succeed courses become a part of a student's University of Colorado academic record. Therefore, it is extremely important that a student earn at least a 'C' grade in CU Succeed courses. A grade of C-minus or below could prevent a student from being admitted to any campus in the University of Colorado system, regardless of the student's high school GPA or college entrance exam scores, as a C-minus corresponds to a GPA of 1.70, and students must have a minimum of a 2.0 university GPA to be admitted to or remain in good standing at the University.
- Several of the CU Succeed courses are also Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) classes. Both CU Succeed and AP/IB offer college options. Which is the better choice? That often depends on the college you wish to attend and how you perform in class. Are you good at earning a high course grade, or are you a better test taker? Talk with your teacher, counselor, and parent(s) to help you make the decision. Often, students take a course for both AP and CU Succeed credit - and that class could be an IB class too! The various college options don't conflict with one another; they literally provide "options" for the student.
- The good news is that you don’t have to make the CU Succeed decision until around February, 2023. This gives you time to see how you perform in class as well as having a better idea of where you’ll be attending college.
Payment
Payment is due when the student registers for the dual enrollment option in our system. CU Succeed classes are $50 per credit hour.
Students will follow the enrollment instructions on the enrollment guide their teacher gives them. The registration sheet has instructions on how to make the payment through their UCCS portal.
Registration
Registration for UCCS classes begins in January, 2023. CU Succeed Registration packets will be delivered to students early February.
Tranferability Between Colleges
Most CU Succeed courses are transferable between Colorado public colleges; CU Succeed course are often part of the Guaranteed Transfer (GT) Pathways General Education Curriculum. This means if you don't plan to attend a University of Colorado (CU) college, you can transfer your CU Succeed college credits from CU to the school you attend (e.g., Colorado State University, CSU). Many college transfers are also possible for schools outside of Colorado and private schools, but these are not guaranteed under the GT Pathways program.
Q&A from Karen Bisset, CU Succeed Program Coordinator at UCCS:
Now that D11 students have to pay for CU Succeed tuition (rather than paid by the school district), students are making sure taking a class will actually help them. I have two questions:
1. If students attend college out of state, in general, how much credit from CU Succeed courses can they transfer? And what kind of credit? Elective? I know this is a grey area question, but I’m looking for generalities. This will depend upon the accepting institution. Sometimes the credits will transfer toward a student’s major and sometimes as an elective. This is true for in-state and out-of-state. We have seen both scenarios apply. We advise students to pull their unofficial transcript from their UCCS portal and ask the college or university they want to attend to analyze it and give them feedback.
2. For in-state schools I’m looking at Guaranteed Transfer (GT) (https://highered.colorado.gov/Academics/Transfers/gtPathways/Curriculum/Courses.aspx). However, I looked up Palmer CU Succeed classes to see if they are eligible for GT and here’s what I discovered:
Statistics (MATH 2810): No
Calculus (MATH 1350): No
Physics (PES 1010 & 1150): Yes
History (HIST 1510, 1530, 1540): Yes
Game Design (GDD 1100): No
Art (VA 1010): No
Is this correct, or am I missing something? It only appears that about half of the CU Succeed classes at Palmer are GT. For classes that are not GT, it’ll be a hard sell. That is correct, however, just because a class is not a guaranteed transfer class doesn’t mean that it won’t transfer. In fact, the majority of classes do transfer…it’s just ‘how’ that is the question. (Do they transfer as an elective or toward the major) I know this first-hand as working in this area and as a parent whose son transferred high school dual credits to Colorado School of Mines. My daughter is currently in high school and she has taken two dual credit classes that are not on the GT list, but I am sure will transfer to her chosen institution in some capacity. While we know that GT is an important list to administrators, it should also be noted that many classes are not on this list but are instrumental in a student’s college education. For example, Public Speaking and Interpersonal Communication are classes that are relevant for a person’s success in the workplace, but are not GT. Many institutions have a Communication Competency requirement. GT classes are classes that have gone through a two-year process to be certified GT. Not all colleges and universities have submitted all courses for this review, therefore, there are many classes that, while not being GT, are relevant and essential to students’ academic and career successes. It is also important to note that GT classes are only guaranteed to transfer to another public Colorado college or university. These classes are not guaranteed to transfer to private or out-of-state institutions. Our office has found that our dual credit offerings almost always transfer to other institutions, but we recommend that students check with the institution they wish to attend order to see how their UCCS dual credits might transfer.
More Information
UCCS Website - CU Succeed: https://outreach.uccs.edu/cu-succeed
Concurrent vs. Dual Enrollment - What's the Difference? - CDE Policy
Contact
For more information about the CU Succeed Program at Palmer HS contact Michael Chamberlin, Palmer CU Succeed Coordinator, at michael.chamberlin@d11.org