What is Dual Credit?
Dual credit is an opportunity for high school students who meet admissions standards to enroll in public post-secondary institutions in South Dakota and simultaneously earn credits for both their high school diploma and post-secondary degree or certificate.
Through a program approved by the South Dakota Legislature, dual credit coursework is available to high school students in grades 11-12 at the rate of $48.33 per credit. That compares to about $200 per credit at the state’s four technical institutes and $300 per credit at the state’s public universities. Students are responsible for the $48.33 per-credit cost and any required textbooks or related course materials.
Students are able to choose from a number of on-campus and online classes, including general education and career and technical education courses.
How do I register?
Your first step should be to meet with the Dean of Students to talk about whether you are a good candidate for dual credit. Each of the participating public universities and technical institutes has their own registration process. If you click on the links toward the bottom of this page, you can access the necessary registration forms. Take the form from the appropriate institution when you meet with your Dean of Students.
How do I know if I'm eligible to take High School Dual Credit?
Students must fall into one of the categories below to participate.
High school juniors eligible to enroll in dual credit must meet one of the following requirements:
a) earn an ACT composite score of 24 reflective of the 70% percentile; or
b) rank in the upper one-third of their graduating class; or
c) earn a cumulative GPA of at least 3.50 on a 4.0 scale.
High school seniors eligible to enroll in dual credit must meet one of the following requirements:
a) earn an ACT composite score of 21 reflective of the 50% percentile; or
b) rank in the upper one-half of their graduating class; or
c) earn a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 on a 4.0 scale.
High school juniors or seniors eligible to enroll in a high school in South Dakota who meet all of the following Undergraduate admission requirements:
a) ACT score of 18 (or 21 for USD and SDSM&T); and
b) Successful completion of coursework requirements:
- four years of English
- three years of advanced mathematics
- three years of laboratory science
- three years of social studies
- one year of fine arts.
To participate in the High School Dual Credit program, students must meet one of the requirements in the categories above, or may qualify by meeting the benchmarks on one of the assessments below:
a) 10th Grade ACT Aspire Summative Assessment (score of 434 or higher)
b) Accuplacer (sentence skills - score 86 or higher AND elementary algebra - Score 76 or higher)
What courses are available? Visit the DOE Dual Credit Dashboard to view course offerings.
Online College Classes
Dual credit spring registration:
November 1st for Technical Institutes and Board of Regents schools
Dual credit summer registration:
February 19th for the Board of Regents schools
March 1, 2019 for Technical Institutes
Dual credit fall registration:
March 25th for the Technical Institutes
April 1, 2019 for the Board of Regents schools
* Source: www.SDMyLife.com
Dual credit is an opportunity for high school students who meet admissions standards to enroll in public post-secondary institutions in South Dakota and simultaneously earn credits for both their high school diploma and post-secondary degree or certificate.
Through a program approved by the South Dakota Legislature, dual credit coursework is available to high school students in grades 11-12 at the rate of $48.33 per credit. That compares to about $200 per credit at the state’s four technical institutes and $300 per credit at the state’s public universities. Students are responsible for the $48.33 per-credit cost and any required textbooks or related course materials.
Students are able to choose from a number of on-campus and online classes, including general education and career and technical education courses.
How do I register?
Your first step should be to meet with the Dean of Students to talk about whether you are a good candidate for dual credit. Each of the participating public universities and technical institutes has their own registration process. If you click on the links toward the bottom of this page, you can access the necessary registration forms. Take the form from the appropriate institution when you meet with your Dean of Students.
How do I know if I'm eligible to take High School Dual Credit?
Students must fall into one of the categories below to participate.
High school juniors eligible to enroll in dual credit must meet one of the following requirements:
a) earn an ACT composite score of 24 reflective of the 70% percentile; or
b) rank in the upper one-third of their graduating class; or
c) earn a cumulative GPA of at least 3.50 on a 4.0 scale.
High school seniors eligible to enroll in dual credit must meet one of the following requirements:
a) earn an ACT composite score of 21 reflective of the 50% percentile; or
b) rank in the upper one-half of their graduating class; or
c) earn a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 on a 4.0 scale.
High school juniors or seniors eligible to enroll in a high school in South Dakota who meet all of the following Undergraduate admission requirements:
a) ACT score of 18 (or 21 for USD and SDSM&T); and
b) Successful completion of coursework requirements:
- four years of English
- three years of advanced mathematics
- three years of laboratory science
- three years of social studies
- one year of fine arts.
To participate in the High School Dual Credit program, students must meet one of the requirements in the categories above, or may qualify by meeting the benchmarks on one of the assessments below:
a) 10th Grade ACT Aspire Summative Assessment (score of 434 or higher)
b) Accuplacer (sentence skills - score 86 or higher AND elementary algebra - Score 76 or higher)
What courses are available? Visit the DOE Dual Credit Dashboard to view course offerings.
Online College Classes
- If you do your classes during school time as part of your required high school credits, you can earn high school and college credit (dual-credit). Your grade will appear on your report card for both our high school and the college. Technical Institutes offer dual-credit classes, too. This is a great way to save time and money in college, but be prepared. If you take a class that is required to graduate, such as English, failing the class could keep you from graduating. Pay attention to important start, drop, and due dates.
- If you do your online classes outside of the school day, in addition to your high school classes, you will receive college credit only, and your grade will not appear on your high school report card.
Dual credit spring registration:
November 1st for Technical Institutes and Board of Regents schools
Dual credit summer registration:
February 19th for the Board of Regents schools
March 1, 2019 for Technical Institutes
Dual credit fall registration:
March 25th for the Technical Institutes
April 1, 2019 for the Board of Regents schools
* Source: www.SDMyLife.com
For a list of Dual Credit Courses offered, click here.
Advance Placement (AP) Classes
These classes are done during school time and count for high school credit. They look good on scholarship applications. If you pass the final test with a high enough score, you can get college credit too. English and calculus classes are most often chosen. (We do not have lab facilities for the science courses.)