Enrolling in SMCCD College Courses (Concurrent Enrollment) Overview

• Begin the Application Process Caňada College, College of San Mateo, Skyline College
• Meet with your High School Counselor
• Complete the SMUHSD Pre-Approval Form to enroll in courses and obtain the necessary signatures for concurrent enrollment
• Submit your Concurrent Enrollment forms to the College of San Mateo, Skyline College, or Caňada College (it may take up to 5 days to process)

Plan ahead

SMUHSD staff is committed to helping students continue to take challenging courses and access courses that will expand their knowledge. It is critical that students and families plan ahead and consult with their school counselors to determine if a community college course is an appropriate action or if they should explore other alternatives. It is not recommended that students take more than one community college per semester. Again please consult and develop a plan with your school counselor.  Please be aware that some courses require prerequisites or corequisites which can delay or prevent the enrollment of certain classes. We recommend that you consider the following before enrolling in a community college course:

• Speak to your school counselor and develop an educational plan that outlines how the community college courses will complement your educational goals
• Make sure you understand the limitations that could possibly exist - i.e. Is this an appropriate course? Does the course require the student to have a certain knowledge of the material? Is the course being taught in a learning modality that is beneficial to the student?

Personal Enrichment vs. Advancement

It is important to remember that when a student enrolls in any community college course, the student is building an academic transcript that will follow them for the rest of their academic life. If a student has an unfortunate situation where they fail or withdraw from a class, that failing grade will need to be reported when they apply to college as a senior and/or to any post-secondary institution. These are college courses as a result the instructors do expect a certain level of maturity and student responsibility. Community College Faculty operate under different guidelines and are not required to discuss a student’s progress with a parent.

While some students may decide to take a community college course for personal enrichment, other students may want to take a course so that they can advance in a particular subject area (i.e. in order to take an Advanced Placement course), while SMUHSD offers open enrollment, the school also has to prioritize access to students; seniors are generally given priority to classes as that will be the last academic year that they will have an opportunity to take a course. Please keep in mind that while SMUHSD will attempt to accommodate each student, there are finite resources available.

Definitions

SMUHSD Pre-Approval Form: a required SMUHSD form to be completed by the student and the family in order to receive permission in order to enroll in a community college course. This form is an internal form used by each school site. This form must be completed prior to submitting a concurrent enrollment form. This form will inform the family and student if a community college course will be listed on a student’s transcript.

SMCCD Concurrent Enrollment Form: a required SMCCD form that requires a student’s information/signature, parent/guardian signature, and school official's signature that authorizes the student to enroll in a community college course.  This form will be uploaded to the student’s “Websmart” account will need to be processed by the admissions office and may take up to five business days to be processed.

Priority Registration: This designation is generally given to full-time community college students who have an educational plan on file and have good academic standing. Concurrent Enrollment students do not typically have priority registration and have to wait to register during the “open registration” period begins.

Online / Distance Learning: Course will be delivered in a virtual learning environment. Students will have an opportunity to enroll in either an asynchronous or synchronous format.

Asynchronous Course: Online courses that do not require the student to log-in to a “zoom” session and attend a traditional lecture. The course is generally completed in an independent format, the student will still be required to complete assignments, tests, group projects within a certain time frame. 

Synchronous Course: Online courses that follow a traditional course but are delivered virtually. The course usually requires students to log-in to a Zoom session and attend a lecture.

Concurrent Enrollment: A student who is enrolled in two different educational systems. In this case, a student who is enrolled in a traditional high school and a community college. Generally, students concurrently enrolled students complete one course at the community college.

Dual Enrollment: Generally a community college course that is offered at a high school. Students enrolled earned high school and college credits simultaneously. Enrollment of these courses is 100% high school students. These courses generally are offered during the traditional academic year.