Dual Enrollment

 

MCLA Dual Enrollment

MCLA’s Dual enrollment provides opportunities for Massachusetts high school students to take college-level courses for free and earn credit for high school completion and a future college degree. Interested students should contact their high school guidance counselor for more information.

Commonwealth Dual Enrollment Partnership Program

MCLA’s program allows qualified high school students to enroll in free, transferable introductory college courses at MCLA. 

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Deadline to Apply: May 9th, 2025

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Benefits

  • Earn transferable college credit at no cost
  • Introduce high school students to college-level courses
  • Strengthens college applications and improve overall weighted GPA  
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Program Requirements

  • Must be a high school student residing in Massachusetts
  • Guidance counselor recommendation
  • Completion of brief MCLA Dual Enrollment application
  • Minimum GPA is a 2.7 or must demonstrate potential for academic success

Important Dates

 

Berkshire County Application: March 1, 2025  Statewide Application Open Date: April 30, 2025 
Berkshire County Priority Deadline: April 18, 2025  Statewide Deadline: May 9, 2025
Berkshire County Decision Deadline: April 25, 2025  Statewide Decision Deadline: May 16, 2025 

Summer 2025 Dual Enrollment courses

Unless otherwise noted, all of MCLA’s Dual Enrollment courses occur in an asychronous online format. 

Session A (May 21-July 3)

BADM-160 Management
CCCA-207 Children's Literature*
        Mon 5:30-8:30pm
CHEM-150 Intro to Chemistry I w/ Lab**
        Tues & Thurs 5:30-10pm
ENGL-210 Essentials of Film
MATH-150 Precalculus
PHED-215 Lifetime Wellness

Session B (July 7-August 16)

BADM-170 Marketing 
BIOL-150L Intro to Biology w/ Lab**
      Mon & Wed 5:30-10pm
ENVI-226 Nature of New England
HLTH-115 Science of Human Wellness
MATH-220 Calculus I  
MATH-232 Intro to Statistics 
MUSI-100 Intro to Music
SOCI-100 Introduction to Sociology

*synchronous; meets online at a specific day and time  
**occurs in-person at MCLA’s campus in North Adams 

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Please contact Madeleine McKeon at Madeleine.McKeon@mcla.edu or 413.662.5220 with questions.

FAQs for Students

Yes! The course fees are completely covered by grant funding. Students may be responsible for certain materials costs, including textbooks. Our faculty are committed to affordability and use open access materials when possible. If you have concerns about affording materials, please contact Madeleine McKeon at Madeleine.McKeon@mcla.edu.  
Grant restrictions mean that students are only allowed to take one grant-funded course throughout their high school career.  
Because our courses are accelerated and it is many students’ first experience with college-level work, we do not recommend students taking more than one course. However, we understand that certain circumstances may dictate a need for additional courses. If you would like to take a course, you will be charged $180/credit ($540 total for a 3-credit course; $720 for a 4-credit lab course).   
If you need to take additional courses, please reach out to Madeleine.McKeon@mcla.edu. 

Asynchronous courses are classes that do not have a standard meeting time. Assignments may still have deadlines that you are expected to meet, but otherwise the course is self-paced. 

Occasionally, we have to cancel courses that have low enrollment. You will be notified as soon as the decision has been made and, if there are spots, an offer will be made to enroll in your alternative class.  

For students who are in danger of failing the course, withdrawal is the best option. Withdrawal means that your transcript will demonstrate that you attempted the course, but did not complete the course. This mark does not have an impact on your grade point average. MCLA’s summer courses are accelerated so we recommend that students make the decision to withdraw as soon as possible.  

Please email Madeleine McKeon at Madeleine.McKeon@mcla.edu or the MCLA Registrar’s Office at registrar@mcla.edu to withdraw. You must submit your request by the term’s withdrawal deadline.

The SASID and Social Security Number are used for the college’s tax  and state enrollment reporting purposes. If you do not submit an SSN or SASID, you may receive communication from the MCLA Bursar’s Office requesting that you submit the SSN or a hold be put on your account. This means that you will not be able to request a transcript until you submit your SSN. 

We recommend for a Fall and Spring semester course, we recommend between 2-3 hours of work outside of class. Our summer courses are accelerated and so we would recommend budgeting 12-15 per week for your classwork.  

If you are having issues with the Dual Enrollment application, please contact dgce@mcla.edu.  
If you are having technical problems during your course, notify your professor as soon as possible. Then reach out to MCLA’s TechHelp Desk at (413)-662-5276 or helpdesk@mcla.edu.

Unfortunately, the grant funding is restricted to serving Massachusetts residents only.  

FAQs for Guidance Counselors

As part of their application, students will enter their guidance counselor’s contact information. An email from our application system will be sent to you to complete the recommendation. Please note that your recommendation serves as a certification that your institution will count MCLA credit on a student’s high school transcript, weighted in accordance with the high school’s policy on AP or Early College credit.

We do occasionally allow sophomores with strong recommendations to take Dual Enrollment classes. However, juniors are given preference throughout the selection process.

Our courses are designed to be foundational courses that would be a part of many higher education core curriculums. They do satisfy MassTransfer requirements and should be accepted at any Massachusetts state institution.  

As a requirement of the state grant, yes, the high school must count the credit on a student’s high school transcript. This is certified when a guidance counselor provides a recommendation a student for the program. The high school has license to count the credit as a core or elective class.  

The MCLA Dual Enrollment program looks at a variety of factors, including class year and GPA to determine eligibility.  
MCLA prioritizes its Berkshire County residents by offering them an early application date. The application is then promoted to the rest of the state after the Berkshire County students have been placed. Students outside of Berkshire County who apply before the statewide application opens will not be reviewed until all Berkshire County students have been placed. 
Any other questions, please reach out to Madeleine McKeon at Madeleine.McKeon@mcla.edu.  

Unfortunately, no. Grant restrictions mean that students enrolled in Early College are not eligible for grant funding. Due to MCLA’s commitment to social mobility and educational access, we are committed to prioritizing districts and students who would not otherwise be able to access college credit opportunities. Early College students may apply for a course at our reduced high school rate of $180/credit.  

Check out our Early College page.