Qualified high school students interested in getting a head start on college credit can take World Campus credit courses whether or not they have been admitted by Penn State's Undergraduate Admissions Office.
You will need the approval of the Undergraduate Admissions Office to enroll in a World Campus course. Please send us as much information from the guidelines below as possible—we will assemble all of your information and forward it to the Admissions Office.
Important: We encourage you to begin the enrollment process early, since approval for students who have not entered their senior year of high school may take additional time. For more information, contact us.
Guidelines for High School Students Granted Admission to Penn State
- You must meet the prerequisite for any credit course in which you are interested. Check course listings to see if your course has a prerequisite.
- Like all Penn State students, you are required to take Penn State online placement exams before enrolling in CHEM 012, ENGL 015, MATH 004, MATH 021, MATH 022, MATH 110, or MATH 140. You can find more information about these courses in the course catalog.
- You will only be able to enroll in one World Campus course at a time.
- If you'd like to work with a World Campus academic adviser, one will be available to you in accordance with University policy.
- You may not enroll in an equivalent course already available at your high school.
Guidelines for High School Students Not Yet Accepted by Penn State
If you have not already been accepted by Penn State, or you have not yet entered your senior year of high school, guidelines 2 through 5 above will apply, in addition to the following two guidelines:
- You must remain enrolled in a supervised high school program making progress toward completing all of the credits required for your high school diploma. Our courses are available to students who have completed eleventh grade, have not yet graduated from high school, and can predict a 2.0 or better college grade-point average, based on either SAT/ACT or PSAT/PLAN scores.
- Your application must be accompanied by a copy of your high school transcript and SAT/ACT or PSAT/PLAN scores. A letter from your high school counselor—verifying that (1) you are capable of work beyond the high school level and (2) you will benefit from the challenge of the course—must also accompany your application.
Advanced Placement (AP) Exams
If you are doing advanced work in high school, you can earn credit through the Advanced Placement (AP) program. You must arrange for your official score reports to be sent directly from the Educational Testing Service to the Penn State Undergraduate Admissions Office.
For specific information on credit awarded through AP exams, contact us.
