As the 2021-2022 school year gets closer and closer, incoming seniors start to look for ways to get as many college credits as possible. This makes it easier to get into their preferred college after high school.  

   Most students do this through the Dual Enrollment program at Hillsborough Community College(HCC). What students do not know is, dual enrollment is not the only option. They can also receive college credit by becoming an Early Admission student at HCC. 

   For those who do not know, Early Admission is a different form of dual enrollment. Instead of taking some classes at a high school level and college level, early admission allows students to take classes at HCC full time. 

   The application fee is waived and tuition is waived for early admissions students for all courses taken through the program while they are still enrolled in high school. 

   Classes will count for both high school and college credit. Regular dual enrollment students are only allowed to take up till ten credit hours per semester, while early admission students can take a maximum of 15 credit hours. 

   This being said, they will still be considered students at their high school. This means they will still be allowed to participate in school activities such as graduation, sporting events and school dances.

   It is essential that before a student becomes an early admission student, they must be a senior who has completed all high school graduation requirements prior to that year. Though if a student has one required credit remaining, they can still enter the early admission program. 

  To be an Early Admission student, one also must have a high enough PERT, SAT or ACT score. The PERT can be taken at any HCC campus or, due to the current times, it can be taken remotely. 

   The steps to enter the early admission program are relatively easy, as they are the exact same steps one takes to become a dual enrollment student. So for a refresher, after creating a Hawk ID and email account, students must fill out two important forms. 

   The Authorization Form B and the Parent permission form, both of which they can receive from their school, guidance counselor. The Authorization Form B explains classes a student wants to take that semester, but instead of checking “dual enrollment,” click “early admission.”

   Students can browse the HCC website to see what classes are available that semester. Depending on the class, they can last from five to 18 weeks long. 

   The summer 2021 semester registration begins for current students with 30+ credit hours on March 23 and begins for current students with 1-29 credit hours on March 29. Registration ends April 30 and the term begins May 17.