Dual Credit FAQs

The Houston Community College Board of Trustees has waived tuition and fees for dual credit students. Students living within taxing districts (In-District) may take dual credit classes at no charge. Students living outside of the taxing district (Out-of-District) do not pay tuition, but they do pay tuition out-of-district fees.

Dual Credit classes are conveniently held on the high school campus or on a nearby college campus. On the high school campus, the classes are exclusively for students attending that high school. On the college campus, students are integrated into regular college courses with regular college students.

House Bill 505 removed limitations on the number of classes a student may take. However, Houston Community College recommends that students taking more than two classes per semester possess a 3.0 or higher grade point average in high school coursework.

Students may verify the transferability of credit by asking the college/university or Student Success Coach if the target university will accept Houston Community College college-level courses in transfer. While many private and out-of-state institutions accept our college-level courses in transfer, students are advised to confirm transferability with the private or out-of-state institution. Workforce courses may or may not be transferable depending upon whether Houston Community College and the college or university has a signed articulation agreement for the particular program and courses in question. Consult with a Student Success Coach for additional details

Dual credit students, like all college students, are responsible for purchasing required textbooks and other essential course materials. The exception would be in cases where the high school provides textbooks

Dual credit students cannot receive financial aid. Students must earn a high school diploma or GED to be eligible for financial aid.

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law that affords parents the right to have access to their children’s education records, the right to seek to have the records amended, and the right to have some control over the disclosure of personally identifiable information from the education records. When a student turns 18 years old, or enters a postsecondary institution at any age, the rights under FERPA transfer from the parents to the student (“eligible student”). An “eligible student” means a student who has reached the age of 18 or who is attending a postsecondary institution at any age. Once a student becomes an “eligible student,” the rights afforded his or her parents under FERPA transfer to that student.

If a student is attending a postsecondary institution - at any age - the rights under FERPA have transferred to the student. However, in a situation where a student is enrolled in both a high school and a postsecondary institution, the two schools may exchange information on that student. If the student is under 18, the parents still retain the rights under FERPA at the high school and may inspect and review any records sent by the postsecondary institution to the high school. Additionally, the postsecondary institution may disclose personally identifiable information from the student’s education records to the parents, without the consent of the eligible student, if the student is a dependent for tax purposes under the IRS rules.