ECCA APPLICATION
Instructions
ECCA classes are career-oriented courses taken at Parkland College in the mornings (approx. 7:30a-9:20a). Students then return back to the high school in time for 3 rd period to finish out their regular school day. If there is a high enough need, MSHS will offer transportation to and from Parkland. Students earn both high school and college credit for successfully completing these courses.
The following steps must be completed by students to officially apply for the ECCA:
By Friday, Feb 16th : Please complete Parkland’s Early College Services application.
Note: When you open this link you must apply using the “Early College Services” link!
By Friday, Feb 16th : Complete the ECCA-specific application and turn into your counselor
Parkland’s Placement Testing:
By April 15th : The following ECCA programs require placement testing: CNA, Education, EMS. All of the other programs are solely based on high school grades (GPA) so this step only applies to CNA, Education, EMS. Any students enrolled in these three areas will need to participate in placement testing or provide a qualifying SAT score by Monday, April 15th .
In order to schedule testing, students can call Parkland’s Early College Services office at 217-353-2663. (Students: After you have already applied to Parkland, call to let them know that you are an MSHS student planning to take dual credit next year and that you would like to set up your testing). Parkland’s testing can be completed either in-person (at Parkland) or online.
Note on qualifying SAT scores: If you have previously taken an SAT and have a 480+ Reading/Writing and 530+ Math you will be exempt from testing. Note, we will NOT have the April 12th SAT scores back in time to submit for ECCA so this would only apply to those who took an earlier SAT.
Tuition for ECCA
Finally, we wanted to give families an idea of the fee structure. Fees will be assessed in the fall of 2024. Important Note: All fees will be waived for students who qualify for free or reduced school fees. If your family does NOT qualify for free/reduced school fees but there are other financial barriers, please reach out as we may be able to help.
Students enrolling in the ECCA will take a series of courses that generally end up in the 12-15 college credit range. The fees for ECCA are approximately $2,000 for programs that are year-long and $1,000 for semester-long programs. However, Mahomet-Seymour school district contributes a $500 scholarship towards ECCA fees. So, for year-long ECCA programs, the out-of-pocket expense to families is $1500. For semester-long ECCA programs (CNA and EMS) the family expense will be $500. Again, students who qualify for free/reduced school fees will not be charged. For more details on specific courses covered in ECCA, take a look at the ECCA Program Guide.
All fees will be assessed through Skyward with school fees in the fall.
Please direct dual credit/ECCA questions to your school counselor. If you no longer wish to take your requested dual credit course, please reach out to your counselor ASAP to let them know what you would like to take instead.