The Gift of Time

We know that the ECA enriches your high school experience academically and socially, by providing a way for you to excel as part of a highly motivated cohort.

While in high school…

You gain valuable experience about the behaviors and attitudes necessary to be successful in a baccalaureate program.

You are provided an opportunity to try on the role of a college student in a way that is similar to the way pre-professionals try on the role of the professional through an internship.

You enjoy the freedom to experiment in the role of the college student in a support-rich environment.

You have a network of supportive professionals from both the college and the local high school to help you navigate this role well.

What's less obvious is how investment in the ECA in your high school years returns the dividend of time in your college years. The ECA is not designed to cut your college experience short. Most of you will still want to have a full college experience, and now you will have more options for what to accomplish with that experience.

During your college years…

You could choose to pursue a double major, because you will have the time to pursue the extra credits and requirements of a second major within a four-year span.

You could complete a combined Bachelors/Masters program in four years that would normally require five or six years.

You could choose to take fewer than fifteen credits per term, leaving extra time for part-time (pre-professional) work, intercollegiate athletics, extracurricular activities, student government, internships, etc.

You could take full advantage of global "study abroad" options or semester-long or even year-long internships.

You could use summers normally spent catching up on credits for work or other exploration.

You could in fact graduate early and move into the workforce a year or so earlier than your typical peers.

Whether during high school or college, how you use the ECA's gift of time is up to you.

The Facts on Admissions and Transfer

When any high school student with any form of college credit decides to attend a four-year college or university, the college or university makes three decisions about the student.

  • First, the college or university makes an admissions decision. Based on the high school record, does the student meet the admissions requirements of the college or university?
  • Second, the college or university will make a decision about the acceptance of transfer credit. This decision may be made at the admissions level or within the academic department to which the student's major belongs.
  • Third, the college or university will make a decision about the social standing of the student. Social standing decisions vary by institution and might relate to housing or course registration windows.

All transfer decisions are made by the specific college or university to which the student has been admitted. It is important to note that the college or university may make the decision about the transfer of college credits during the admissions process, once the student declares a major, or at some other time during the student's enrollment at the college or university.

Prospective ECA students should consult the transfer guides of the specific colleges or universities they wish to attend. These guides can often be found by accessing the transfer admissions portion of the college or university website. Students can also utilize the Transfer Tool of the State Council of Higher Education of Virginia (SCHEV). Bear in mind that the information on the transfer tool does not constitute a formal evaluation of transfer credit or a guarantee of the transferability of courses and credits, and it is subject to change from time to time to ensure accuracy. For questions regarding the content of the transfer information, please contact the appropriate college or university.

Once enrolled in an ECA program, students should contact the specific college or university of interest, their high school counselor, their ECA career coach, or one of the career, employment, and transfer counselors at Reynolds for more information.

To request that an official transcript of your Reynolds coursework visit our Transcript page.

Some Data on Transfer

According to alumni surveys of the first four graduating classes of the Reynolds ACA, 36% of our graduates transferred at least 60 credits, 88% transferred at least 45 credits, and 94% transferred at least 30 credits. The remaining 6% of respondents attended private institutions that do not typically apply very many (if any) credits earned in high school (whether through dual enrollment, AP or IB) toward the completion of the college degree.

Further, 94% of our graduates reported that the transferred credits "counted as credit toward my college degree completion," 94% reported that the credits "exempted me from required courses," 82% reported that the credits "enabled me to enroll in more advanced courses," and 86% reported that the credits "counted towards elective credit." Based on these multiple responses, we can surmise that for most graduates, the credits earned through the Reynolds ACA counted in as many as four different ways, depending on major and institution.

However, because decisions about credit transfer are made by the receiving institution based on a variety of factors including the specific degree program and core curriculum requirements, Reynolds can make no guarantees about the universal transfer of the college credits earned through participation in its ACA programs.

College and University Performance of Dual Enrollment Alumni

According to a recent report from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV):

  • Students who have participated in a dual enrollment program have higher high school graduation and college enrollment rates.
  • DE students have higher persistence and retention rates as well as higher GPAs in college.
  • Students with Dual Enrollment credit do just as well as native university students in subsequent courses.
  • There is a positive correlation between dual enrollment credits and college completion rates.
  • SCHEV data show that students arriving at college with dual enrollment credit do well in terms of four-year baccalaureate completion: the more dual enrollment credits a student earns, the higher the likelihood that she will complete a bachelor degree in four years.
  • Overall four-year completion rates for the most recent cohort of first-time college students in Virginia was 47.6 percent.
  • Students earning 11 credits or fewer in dual enrollment have a four-year graduation rate of 49 percent.
  • Those with 24 credits or greater in dual enrollment have a four-year graduation rate of 57.6 percent.