Dual Enrollment

The Dual Enrollment program provides students with opportunities to take college course offerings from University of Pittsburgh (Main Campus), Pennsylvania Highlands Community College, Mt. Aloysius, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and The University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown (UPJ). Students are simultaneously enrolled at both their home high school and one of the aforementioned institutions. All tuition will be the responsibility of the student and their family.

Students must have a score of proficient or advanced on the Keystone exam which coincides with the course chosen and/or the Penn Highlands Compass qualifying exam.

The benefits for students successfully completing dual enrollment courses include:

Possible attainment of an Associate’s Degree (30-61 College Credits) from Penn Highlands Community College.
Students may be eligible to receive financial assistance when available, saving students and parents’ significant tuition costs towards college.
High school students are able to experience the dynamics of a college classroom before actually entering college.
Students easily transition from high school to college with a working knowledge of what to expect.
Successful completion of dual enrollment courses can shorten the time to college degree completion.
College credit is earned at the same time as high school credit.
Helps students narrow down their career interests by giving them the chance to explore a variety of fields at the college level.
Dual Enrollment Courses receive a 25% additional value weighting for course completion at UPJ and 20% additional value weighting for courses at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College or other two-year institutions. Dual Enrollment classes offered at JHS don’t receive weighting.

Pennsylvania has created a seamless statewide transfer and articulation system, which requires Pennsylvania's 14 community colleges and the 14 universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) to adopt mandatory equivalency standards for the purpose of creating at least 30 hours of foundation courses that can be easily transferred to any of the participating institutions. This means that a GJSD student electing to take Dual Enrollment Courses can earn up to 30 credits towards a Bachelor’s Degree while still in high school and save one year of tuition costs at a state or state-related university. Students who participate in dual enrollment are responsible for the submission of applications, transcripts, and any other required documentation to have credit awarded.

Students who participate in off-campus dual enrollment programs must complete an independent study application and provide it to the Principal for approval and submission to the Greater Johnstown School Board of Directors.

Students who have been approved for off-campus dual enrollment may receive additional weighting toward class rank and grade point average consistent with their approved independent study application. Weighting for Dual Enrollment courses completed at Pennsylvania Highlands will not exceed the amount provided to a student who participates in an Advanced Placement course offered at Greater Johnstown High School.

A maximum of 8 credits may be earned in a single school year. Any credits achieved beyond the 8 permitted credits will not be factored into G.P.A. and Class Ranking. Classes taken on the Greater Johnstown High School campus will be given first consideration for courses taken at an outside campus being considered secondary in the process of determining credit to be earned. (Ex: 5 credits earned at GJHS & 4 credits earned on outside campus would result in the non-consideration of 1 of the credits from the outside campus)