College Information

During the school year, we will have colleges interested in coming to PCHS to share their information. As they get scheduled, we'll post them here and send the information out via the SENIOR & JUNIOR CLASS REMINDs and through Senior/Junior PCPS Emails. Signup in the links below.

All visits will be in the PCHS Library, unless indicated differently. We'll send reminders closer to the visit date. Check back often - September and October are busy times for college visits.

COLLEGE VISITS TO PCHS

Mon, Aug 24 @ 8:45 a.m. VIRGINIA TECH Onsite Admissions - Sign up Here to Attend

Tues, Sept 8 @ 11:00 a.m. HAMPDEN-SYDNEY - Sign up Here to Attend

Fri, Sept 11 @ 11:00 a.m. RANDOLPH COLLEGE - Sign up Here to Attend

Tues, Sept 15 @ 9:30 a.m. HOLLINS UNIVERSITY - Sign up Here to Attend

Thurs, Sept 17 @ 9:00 a.m. UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA - Sign up Here to Attend

Tues, Sept 22 @ 2:00 p.m. BLUEFIELD UNIVERSITY - Sign up Here to Attend

Wed, Sept 23 @ 9:30 a.m. JAMES MADISON UNIVERISTY  - Sign up Here to Attend

Mon, Oct 5 @ 11:00 a.m. UVA Wise - Sign up Here to Attend

Tues, Oct 6 @ 11:00 a.m. RADFORD UNIVERSITY - Sign up Here to Attend

Wed, Oct 7 @ 9:20 a.m. MARIST UNIVERSITY - Sign up Here to Attend

Thurs, Oct 8 @ 2:30 p.m. RANDOLPH-MACON COLLEGE - Sign up Here to Attend

Wed, Oct 14 @ 10:30 a.m. MARY BALDWIN UNIVERSITY - Sign up Here to Attend

Fri, Oct 16 @ 9:30 a.m. LONGWOOD UNIVERSITY - Sign up Here to Attend

PENDING APPROVAL FROM THE SCHOOL BOARD AND BUS AVAILABILITY, juniors and seniors are invited to attend the 2026 College Fair the morning of Friday, September 4, 2026 at New River Community College. There will be over 40 colleges in attendance - CLICK THIS LINK to see who. PCHS will attend 9:30-10:15 a.m.

The following forms need to submitted by Tuesday, SEPTEMBER 1:

1)  Parent/Guardian College Fair permission slip - turn into School Counseling office (hard copies available in Counseling office)

2)  Health Information Form - turn into Nurses' Office

3)  Code of Conduct Form (signed Handbook Acknowledgement form) - turn into Ms. Alger

If you have already turned in your Health Information form and Code of Conduct form you don't need to turn in a second. One per school year will do! We'll reach out via Email and REMIND if you are missing a form.

The College Fair is using barcodes to share your information with colleges. Before September 4, go to www.strivefair.com and provide your information in exchange for a barcode. It will take about 90 seconds to register. Your registration will generate a barcode that you will present for entry to the fair, and also for colleges to get your information. Save the barcode on your phone. You will be able to use your phone during the fair, but not on the bus trip. 

Questions? Contact either of your Career Coaches:

• Mrs. Kleppin kkleppin@pcva.us (540-643-0976) 

• Mrs. Weightman epweightman@pcva.us (540-643-0205)

There is a lot to the college process and it can be overwhelming if you don't have anything to guide you. Whether you are planning to go to a two year school or a four year school upon graduation, we have you covered!

Two Year College Task List and Deadlines

If you plan to go to NRCC and then transfer to a four year school, or learn a skill and then go into the workforce, click HERE for things you need to get done and deadlines to do them!

Four Year College Task List and Deadlines

If you plan to go directly to a four year school upon high school graduation, click HERE for the things you need to get done and deadlines to do them!

The colleges and universities listed below offer Tuition Promise Programs to make college more affordable for students, particularly those from lower-income families. 

• • • • Christopher Newport University

      • College of William & Mary

      • Ferrum College

      • George Mason University

      • Hollins University

      • Mary Baldwin University

      • Norfolk State University

      • Radford University

      • University of Virginia

      • UVA Wise

      • University of Mary Washington

      • University of Richmone

      • Virginia State Univedrsity

      • Virginia Tech

      • Washington & Lee University

These programs are designed with the promise of covering the cost of tuition, and in some cases, additional fees, significantly reducing the financial barrier to obtaining a college degree. Eligibility is unique to each college or university. SEE DETAILS HERE!

How many dual enrollment credits do I have and what college classes have I taken?

A typical high school class is one credit. A typical college class is 3 credits. If you have taken dual enrolled classes you are required to not only send your PCHS transcripts, but also your NRCC transcripts to the schools you are considering. See question and answer below on how to send transcripts. Or click on TRANSCRIPT REQUESTS in the left panel for instructions. 

Click on the DUAL ENROLLMENT INFORMATION on the left panel to find out which dual enrolled courses you took and how many credits they were worth. 

What does "test optional" mean?

When a college lists that they are "test optional" it means they are not requiring students to submit an SAT or ACT for admission. Some colleges are moving to this practice just because, and others are adopting this policy due to COVID-19 restrictions that eliminated the opportunity for students to test. Regardless of the reason why, test optional means you are not penalized for not submitting an SAT or ACT score. Check your individual college websites to see if they are requiring a test score.

NOTE:  In some cases colleges may be "test optional" for admission, but may require an SAT or ACT score for scholarship eligibility - check your individual college websites for verification.

Do I have to take an SAT or ACT if I plan to attend NRCC?

No. NRCC does NOT require an SAT or ACT for admission.

What if I plan to attend NRCC and THEN transfer to a four year school, am I required to take an SAT or ACT?

Most likely the answer is no. The SAT/ACT is a measure used by four year schools to see how well a student will do in college. If you attend the community college and then transfer to a four year school, you will use the transfer process and the four year school will use your NRCC transcripts to see how well you are doing in college. In some rare cases, if you go to the community college for just one year, or one semester and then transfer to a four year school, they may require you to submit an SAT/ACT score - check the individual college website.

How do I send my transcripts to colleges?

If you are a current SENIOR, you will need to send your transcripts through PARCHMENT. See TRANSCRIPT REQUEST on the main menu for detailed instructions about how to create an account and send your transcripts. If you took any dual enrolled courses while in high school, you will also need to request your NRCC transcripts to be sent to your four year school - this is also done through your PARCHMENT account. In the case of dual enrolled classes the four year institutions want to get the transcript from the accrediting school and that would be NRCC.

How does the Community Service piece work for ACCE? Can I use the volunteer hours I've done on my own for this requirement?

There is an individual assigned within Pulaski county to identify the community service projects in which ACCE students can be involved. Once you are in the ACCE program that individual will reach out to you. You are required to do 80 hours of community service each year that you are in the program. The preference is that you complete the community service hours in the summer before the semester of school so you are not trying to complete community service while in school. 

You are FORTUNATE to live in a state with such GREAT public colleges & universities. Public schools are more affordable but lots of private schools are able to provide significant scholarships. Appy to all the schools that have the program of study you want, but don't fall in love with any of the schools until you can compare financial aid packages. 

A college degree is an investment, but If you have to have any debt, you want to have as little as possible. Take the time to visit the colleges where you are applying - even if you just take a virtual tour from the comfort of your own living room! Anyone going to college needs to submit the FAFSA (FREE Application for Federal Student Aid). You won't get any funding if you don't do that. Look at the FINANCIAL AID tab for all things related to the FAFSA.

CLICK HERE AND SCROLL TO PAGES 29-30 TO SEE A LIST OF 

ALL THE COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES IN VIRGINIA 

PCHS Acce CLASS OF 2027 flyer

ACCE INFO SESSION FOR SENIORS/PARENTS/GUARDIANS 

Jeff McCoy Theater - Date TBD

ACCE/FAFSA TIMELINE

Sept 1 ACCE Application for 2027 graduates opens. (www.nr.edu/acce)

Oct 1 2027-2028 FAFSA available (studentaid.gov). Be sure to list NRCC College Code 005223 on FAFSA.

Sept 23 COLLEGE/ACCE Info Session for Students, Parents, Guardians (6 p.m. in the Jeff McCoy Theater)

Oct 20 ACCE DAY for Seniors DURING SECOND BLOCK in the Commons - run through stations and get things done - NRCC application, NRCC Program/Major on file, ACCE application, SSN on file, PARCHMENT account created, FAFSA - student information submitted

Bring your chrome book, your Social Security Number, a parent's email address

Jan 15 ACCE Application deadline

Feb 15 FAFSA deadline for ACCE applicants

Mar 15 FAFSA To Do item deadline - To Dos are listed in your NRCC Student Center in SIS (Student Information System)

Apr 1 ACCE Award Notices go out to emails listed on your ACCE application

Apr 10 Students need to accept or decline ACCE via the email listed on the ACCE application

ACCE APPLICATION PROCESS

CLICK HERE to complete ACCE application (Opens Sept 1) 

NOTE: You need to know your NRCC Student Number and NRCC Email address for the ACCE application. If you don't know these items you can request them from one of your Career Coaches: Mrs. Kleppin (kkleppin@pcva.us) or Mrs. Weightman (epweightman@pcva.us).

 STUDENTS reflecting on acce - video

Open House - Fall 2026

Experience Emory & Henry at our Open Houses! Attend our fun and informative events with sessions geared towards both students and their families. Learn about our academics and areas of study, campus life at Emory & Henry, the admissions process, and financial aid opportunities. For on-campus events, take a campus tour with our Student Ambassadors and hear from current students about campus life. After the tour join us for our Academic & Campus Life fair to meet with department faculty and student organizations. Meal tickets are included for the student and two guests.

Upcoming Open House Dates:

• Sept. 26: Open House & Equine Open House– September 26, 2026

• Oct. 31: Open House – October 31, 2026

The Emory & Henry Promise Program (beginning Fall 2026)

Emory & Henry Promise covers the cost of tuition for new VA students with a household income ≤$85,000 and other eligibility criteria beginning Fall 2026. Check out the details here: Emory & Henry Promise.

Fall 2026 Open Houses - September 26 & November 14

Get a firsthand look at what makes the Madison Experience so special! Attend academic presentations, tour campus, connect with student support services and discover all that JMU has to offer. Learn more and register today! 

Discovery Day - Sat, Nov 7 1:00 - 5:00 pm

Come out and explore the NRCC campus and opportunities!

Visit NRCC

Want to explore what NRCC has to offer? Go to THIS SITE to schedule an in-person campus tour, attend an information session on various programs and services, or visit the campus virtually! 

NRCC Application - Applying to NRCC is a two step process 

If you took dual enrolled classes in high school, you DO NOT need to do another NRCC application - see your Career Coach to update your Program of Study at NRCC:

• STEP ONE: CREATE A VCCS ACCOUNT

Go to nr.edu and click APPLY in the upper right corner (if using your phone click on menu to find APPLY); or go to apply.vccs.edu.  Click NEW USER and SIGN UP WITH EMAIL (you will need to be able to retrieve a secure code from the email address that you use). In this step you will create a username and password which is only used for the application process. Once you submit the application that username and password will no longer be used. They are only used to access an application in process if you are unable to submit the application.

• STEP TWO: APPLY TO NRCC

You need to click New River Community College and complete that application. You will run through about 8-9 screens. At the end you will get a yellow box with you SIS# (also called an EMPL ID), your username and a temporary password. It's recommended that you take a picture of the yellow box, or record that information in a secure location.

NRCC offers two paths - one to the four year schools or one to the workforce:

FOUR YEAR TRANSFER PATH

• you want to complete your general studies in an Associates of Arts (AA) or an Associates of Science (AS) program and transfer to a four-year school - NRCC offers 11 different transfer programs - AS and AA two-year degress; 

WORKFORCE PATH

• or you want to go for one year or two years, learn a skill, and get to work - NRCC offers over 60 Associates of Applied Science degrees and Certificate programs. 

See details about both programs HERE. 

Transfer Resources

Want to transfer to a four year school? Here is a website full of transfer resources:  https://www.nr.edu/transfer/ 

Student ID Cards

We want all students to have a NRCC Student ID card. If you do not have an ID, please use THIS LINK to login with you NRCC info and upload a photo for your ID card. After your photo is submitted, you'll receive information on how/where to pick up your card. Point of contact is - Student Activities Coordinator: Rod Reedy, rreedy@nr.edu, 540-674-3600, ext. 4358

Use THIS TOOL to access your NRCC account.

Do you have an NRCC question? Chances are, someone else did too

Click HERE for a list of popular questions - and the answers - asked about at NRCC.

How to view your NRCC email:

Your NRCC email is your username followed by @email.vccs.edu (this is a GMAIL account).

To view your NRCC email:

• • Go to nr.edu

  • Click MY ACCOUNTS - red button upper right side of screen

  • Enter your Username and Password (don't know your password, click FORGOT PASSWORD)

  • Click GMAIL

How to view your NRCC SIS Student Center to see Financial Aid TO DOs, among other things:

In your NRCC Student Center you can:

• • see any Financial Aid TO DO items you need to resolve

NOTE: YOU DO NOT NEED TO WORRY ABOUT THIS TO DO: 

"NRCC HIGH SCHOOL COMP STATUS" 

This just means you need to send your high school transcrip to NRCC to prove that you graduated. You career coach will send ALL transcripts over for students that have registered for fall classes.

• • view your Financial Aid Award

  • pay your bill 

  • view and change your student course schedule

To access:

• • Go to nr.edu

  • Click MY ACCOUNTS - red button upper right side of screen

  • Enter your Username and Password (don't know your password, click FORGOT PASSWORD)

  • Click SIS - Student Information 

  • Click first icon which includes your name, SIS # and username

Direct admission changes

Incoming freshman with at least a 3.0 GPA and completion of 3 college math prep courses will now receive direct admission to Radford. This includes direct admission into our Nursing program for freshman students.

Fall Open House dates

Visit for an Open House this semester -- join us September 26 or November 7 on our Main Campus, or on November 14 at Radford University Carilion in Roanoke. Register at our Visit website here.

Find your admissions counselor

Looking for contact information for your region's admissions counselor? View our Freshman Counseling Staff here and our Transfer Counseling Staff here.

Fall 2027 application open

Our application for Fall 2027 opened on August 1! Apply on RU's website or the Common App. 

Roanoke College rolls out major regional scholarship for Southwest Virginians. Click THIS LINK to read the article.

Visit Virginia Day - Sat Sept 19 or Fri Oct 16

There’s still time to register for Visit Virginia Day, UVA’s fall open house for juniors and seniors from select high schools across Virginia. Students can attend on Saturday, September 19 or Friday, October 16. To help make a visit to Charlottesville possible, we also offer a Visit Virginia Day Travel Grant. The application takes less than a minute to complete and awarded grants will reimburse transportation costs. Please visit and share the official Visit Virginia Day website for more details. Registration and travel grant funding are limited, so we encourage interested students to apply soon. 

Office of Undergraduate Admission (434) 982-5300 or admissionevents@virginia.edu

AccessUVA - what is it?

AccessUVA® is the umbrella name for the University of Virginia's need-based financial aid program for undergraduate students. Much of the time, a student can recognize AccessUVA grants on their financial aid offer by the simple name "AccessUVA Scholarship". However, there are many other named awards that are effectively AccessUVA grants, and students may not understand, at first glance, that other grants listed on their offer are, in fact, part of the AccessUVA program. UVA provides 100% of need-based aid through a combination of grants, scholarships, and limited loans. Key components of the AccessUVA expansion include:

• Virginia families with an income of $50,000 or less will receive grants and scholarships that equal or exceed tuition, fees, housing and dining. 

• Virginia families with an income of $100,000 or less will receive grants and scholarships that equal or exceed tuition and fees. 

• Virginia families with an income of $150,000 or less will receive at least $2,000 in need-based grants. 

UVA will continue to cap need-based loans over four years at $4,000 for low-income Virginians, and at $18,000 for other Virginians with need.

VT Onsite application deadline, Monday, Sept 28, 2026

If applying by the Sept 28 deadline, student must fill out THIS Google form so PCHS can send your name to VT for them to pull your application for their review.

Students should be academically prepared to attend Virginia Tech in the major they select. Although the review is holistic, taking into consideration several attributes, there are minimum requirements to participate in the onsite admission. Those minimums are:

• a cumulative GPA above a 3.5 (No Ds, no Fs, and minimal Cs)

• evidence of college-level work with attempting an advance curriculum (either through honors, AP, Dual Enrollment, or IB courses); and

• have met with either a school counselor or admissions counselor to finalize major selection for the Virginia Tech application.

VT ONSITE APPLICATION INFORMATION SHEET

Students can submit their accompanying academic materials (e.g., the Self-Reported Academic Record - STARS) by the end of the day October 1. VT uses the Common App. After you submit the CommonApp, it will take a couple of days before you can access the STARS, so plan accordingly - don't wait until the last minute. Apply HERE.  

Students who miss the PCHS Onsite Application deadline can apply by one of these deadlines:

• PCHS On Site Application Deadline: September 28 (PREFERRED OPTION for PCHS students - not binding)

• Early Action Application Deadline: November 1 (this is NOT binding)

• Regular Decision Application Deadline: January 15

JANUARY 22 IS THE FAFSA DEADLINE FOR MAXIMUM SCHOLARSHIP CONSIDERATION AT VT.

Fall Open Houses

The Virginia Tech experience is designed by YOU! Open House will allow you and your guests to explore Admissions and Financial Aid, Academic Opportunities, and Student Services. You can also see the beauty of our campus and learn about our challenging and varied programs of study, as well as life on campus. We hope you will join us for Virginia Tech's Fall Open House on September 26th, and November 7th-8th. 

Use this link to view the Open House agenda and get registered to attend!

VT Requires the Self-reported Transcript & Academic Record System (STARS) in addition to your CommonApp

As a first year student, you are also required to complete the Self-Reported Academic Record for VT. Find the VT Admission application HERE and the Self-Reported Transcript & Academic Record System (STARS) HERE.

Will my Dual Enrollment credits transfer to VT?

If you want to know if your NRCC DUAL ENROLLMENT credits will transfer to VT, here's a HANDY GUIDE to find out. Search with the NRCC course number and it will tell you the equivalent VT course number. Don't know the NRCC course number? Ask your Career Coach to share it with you.

Online VT Catalog

HERE is the link to the online VT catalog for all your program/course questions.

VT has a TWO YEAR Agricultural Technology program . . . 

. . . where students earn an associate of agriculture degree and get on the "Fast Track to Success".  Students in the Agricultural Technology program have two great options and several emphasis areas to choose from including: 

Landscape and Turfgrass Management - golf and sports turf management or landscape design, installation, and management OR 

Applied Agricultural Management - livestock production, crop production, or agribusiness. 

Click on THIS LINK to learn more about the Ag Tech program.  

Short-Term Fast-Forward Workforce Programs

Application Package

Contact

Lisa Lowe

WCC Workforce Careers & Credentials Coach

llowe@wcc.vccs.edu

276-223-4717

What is Phi Theta Kappa?

Phi Theta Kappa is a college Honor Society at NRCC for both males and females. Some chapters also exist and membership can be transferred to four year schools. The information below is specific to NRCC.

What are the qualifications?

• 3.5 cumulative GPA in college classes

• 12 credit hours completed (non-developmental) - once you have completed 12 credits (a typical college class is 3 credits) you can be invited to join. 

• Currently enrolled in college (dual enrolled included)

How do I join?

• Accept online invitation. Invitations will come to your NRCC email account.

• Pay a one-time enrollment fee of $100

What are the member benefits?

• Scholarships

• Honor stole to wear at graduation

• Membership pin

• T-shirt

• Sweatshirt

• Opportunity to participate in: Honors in Action project, Community Service, Campus tours at transfer schools

Who do I contact if I have questions?

• Brian Clark blcark@nr.edu 

How do I learn more about the organization?

https://www.nr.edu/ptk/