arly College students and their parents need to know that the classes they are taking with us are college courses that could have either positive or negative impacts on their college career. Here are some of the important facts of how Early College classes may impact students once they transition into their first year in college.
EARNED CREDITS
Students who successfully pass their Early College classes may have fewer credits to complete in order to achieve their college degree. Please remind students, though, that if they do not attend Leeward Community College, they need to have their credits transferred to their college to get them counted towards their degree. This is not done automatically. To do this, they must:
Request an official copy of their transcript from Leeward Community College's Admissions and Records Office and have it sent to their college.
Submit a Transcript Evaluation Request to their college, which asks the college to evaluate his/her transcript.
Because students enter the campus with earned credits, they might eventually register earlier than other first time students, and change class status (e.g. freshman to sophomore) earlier than other first time students.
GRADES
All grades earned via Early College classes are a permanent part of their transcript.
Students who do not do well could begin their College Career with Academic Sanctions
At Leeward, students need to 1) achieve a 2.0 GPA; and 2) pass at least 50% of their classes in order to remain in good academic standing ("W"s do not count as failing). Students who do not hit these benchmarks are subject to the College's Unsatisfactory Academic Progress Policy and could face registration restrictions.
Poor Grades may impact Students' Future ability to get into 4-year Programs.
Some programs do a full transcript review when considering students for admission to their program. For some programs, all grades are considered - even if the course was repeated and the student earned a higher grade in their second attempt.
FINANCIAL AID
Early College classes could also have potential impacts on students' financial aid eligibility
Participation in Early College classes will decrease the amount of Financial Aid available to eligible Students once they Matriculate and enter College. For the Pell Grant, the federal government will only finance students for the first 186 credits of their Bachelor's Degree (a BA typically requires 120-124 credits). If students take 12 credits while in high school, the federal government will only finance the remaining 174 credits.
Students who do not pass their Early College courses may find that they are immediately ineligible for Financial Aid once they enter College as a First Year student.
When students apply for financial aid, the Financial Aid Office is required by law to determine whether or not the student meets the academic standard of a financial aid recipient.
Students who 1) do not have a cumulative GPA of a 2.0 or higher; and/or 2) in their last semester have not completed the required number of credits attempted (for 3-6 credits they must earn all credits attempted) are immediately placed on Financial Aid suspension and are not eligible to receive aid. This status stays with them until they meet the performance conidtions of suspended students. A "W" counts as non-completion.
Students are Limited in the Number of Credits they can have Financed by Federal Financial Aid. For an AA degree, it's 90, 100-level credits. All repeated courses count toward their credit limit.
Students who are placed on Financial Aid Suspension can only have their Eligibility reinstated if they are eligible to appeal to the Financial Aid Office OR become in good standing on their own (pay for their own classes until they meet the standards of the Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy).