Students and Parents

Concurrent enrollment courses are college-level courses offered in the high school through which students earn transferable college-credit while simultaneously fulfilling high school graduation requirements. The courses are taught by approved adjuncts of Tompkins Cortland Community College – high school faculty with the credentials to teach college coursework. Concurrent enrollment instructors teach to Tompkins Cortland's master course syllabi, use college-level texts, and require students to meet college-level expectations.

Concurrent enrollment allows high school students:

To prepare for college by starting the transition to college level work;
To strengthen their college applications;
To earn advanced standing once accepted to college. Some students have graduated high school with more than 30 college credits;
To shorten the time to complete their college degree, or to take a lighter course load in their first two college semesters;
To explore career interests. CollegeNow Online courses are particularly useful for exposure to potential career paths.

Read what former students have to say about the benefits of concurrent enrollment.

Currently, 80 participating high schools offer a total of over 100 concurrent enrollment courses. Course offerings differ by school district. Visit the Course Offerings by School page for a list of the courses offered at each participating high school.

College-Level Coursework and Expectations

Concurrent enrollment instructors are held to high standards to ensure their students have a college-level experience. They teach their courses to the same college Master Course Syllabi and college-level texts used in college courses on campus. College faculty provide oversight and guidance to instructors to ensure their courses meet the college’s academic standards.

Just as instructors are evaluated according to the College's faculty standards, so too are concurrent enrollment students subject to the same Academic and Grading Policies as traditional College students. Parents and students should read and understand the college’s Grading Policies and Student Rights and Responsibilities, including the College’s Attendance Policy. Of particular importance at the college level is a thorough understanding of academic integrity, including plagiarism, and the consequence of violating the college's Academic Integrity Policy. The College has developed a guide to help students understand, and avoid, plagiarism. Students planning to attend Tompkins Cortland Community College after high school should also understand the Academic Standards they will be expected to meet once they matriculate.

Beginning a College Transcript

When a student enrolls in their first college-level course, they are initiating a new academic permanent record, their college transcript. Low or failing grades earned while still in high school can have a permanent impact on a student’s academic future. For students planning to continue their education at Tompkins Cortland, poor performance can also put Academic Standing and Financial Aid eligibility in jeopardy. Before registering for courses, students and parents should read the Implications of Beginning a College Transcript.

Dropping or Withdrawing from a Concurrent Enrollment Course

A student should talk to their school counselor as soon as they realize that they cannot be successful in a course. If the student drops the course before the drop deadline, there will be no record of the course on the transcript. After the drop deadline has passed, a student may withdraw from the course. Withdrawals do appear on the transcript and can affect the GPA, depending on the date the withdrawal is processed and whether or not the student was passing at the time.

The change of schedule form must be completed and returned to CollegeNow to drop or withdraw a student from a concurrent enrollment course. Students should pay attention to the Concurrent Enrollment Timeline for the drop and withdrawal deadlines as well as the College's Grading Policies. In addition, students should familiarize themselves with the Implications of Beginning a College Transcript.

Certificates of Residence

A Certificate of Residence is required of any New York State resident taking a course at a community college and must be submitted annually. Applications for Certificates of Residence are processed through the CollegeNow Office. A student’s teacher or guidance counselor will collect the application and supporting documentation at the beginning of the semester.

Students residing in Tompkins or Cortland County, foreign exchange students, and students who have not been a New York State resident for the past full year do not need to submit an application. Students who already have a valid certificate on file do not need to submit an application.

If you need assistance completing the application, please contact CollegeNow at 607.844.8222, Ext. 4311.

Library and Academic Support Services

High school students taking college-level courses through CollegeNow have access to the College's Library resources and services. Students can take advantage of the wide array of Library Resources available at the college, including academic article databases, on-demand video streaming, and the College’s E-book collection. Librarians support students with reference help via text or chat and can mail books and other resources to the student’s home with a pre-paid return label. Learn about how to use our library's services by visiting the LibGuide for CollegeNow students.

Research can be a requirement in many college courses. Students should refer to this guide to understand plagiarism. In addition, Cornell University has an online lesson and set of exercises to help students recognize and avoid plagiarism. Some courses have research guides to support students in their assignments. Our LibGuide includes citation help useful for any course.

Tompkins Cortland’s Library provides tutoring in several subjects, both in person and online. Information about tutoring schedules, locations, and how to access online tutoring, is available on the Library's site. Helpful resources on the writing process, grammar, citations, and essay formats are available in the online Writing & Research Center's Go2Guide. In addition, the Library has developed a resource guide for Accounting, Business, and Economics courses.

Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

Students with documented disabilities are entitled by law (ADA/504) to have necessary academic adjustments, such as modifications and/or auxiliary aids and services. Academic adjustments may not lower academic standards nor substantially alter a course's essential requirements. A student's access plan is designed to provide equal access to course and related activities; academic adjustments do not confer an advantage to the student or guarantee academic success. The College has policies on accommodations.

All students with disabilities who are enrolled for college credit should have an individual access plan with the College-approved academic adjustments. The individual access plan is developed by the College's Office of Access and Equity Services and is based upon documentation of the disability. Such documentation may be provided, with students' permission, by the school. For concurrent enrollment courses, the academic adjustments described in the access plan are provided by the school. Some Assistive Technology is available from the College, as appropriate to the student's access plan. It is possible that the student may receive some accommodations for their high school courses that are not permissible in the college or vice versa, which may also result in different assessment systems between the high school and college course.

Students are encouraged to request an Access Plan as soon as possible, ideally before the course begins. If the student does not yet have a TC3 account, they should create their myTC3 account before submitting their request. (Note: Students will not be able to register until the registration period for their course opens.) Students should submit requests for accommodation to BCL@tompkinscortland.edu (fax: 607-844-6549) with the information listed below. If a school or parent is submitting the request on behalf of a student, please include the student on communications. If the documentation is password-protected, remember to unlock it or provide the password (may call 607-844-8222, ext. 4283).

student's full name;
phone and email address(es) that can be used by the College to reach the student;
high school (indicate if homeschooling student);
if not registered, include which courses and whether they are concurrent enrollment, online, and/or on the College campus;
documentation of the disability, including but not limited to, copies of the IEP or 504 plans, if available (may include on the email anyone who may share documentation on the student's behalf);
list of any individuals who have the student's permission to communicate with the Office of Access and Equity Services; please identify their connection to student (for example, HS counselor, CSE chair, or parent),

Access plans are given to the student and their school. Students are encouraged to meet with their instructors early in the semester to discuss specific needs and method(s) for implementing their access plan within the course. For questions and concerns about appropriate academic adjustments, contact the Director of CollegeNow or reach out directly to the Baker Center for Learning at bcl@tompkinscortland.edu.

CollegeNow Online Courses

Through CollegeNow Online, high school juniors and seniors are offered access to the College's regular online courses. Interested students should talk to their guidance counselor about appropriate courses and expectations. A full list of available courses is published in the CollegeNow Online Catalog.

Transferring College Credit

Concurrent enrollment allows students to earn college credit documented on a college transcript. Tompkins Cortland Community College is an institution of the State University of New York (SUNY), making our credits highly transferable to colleges and universities across the country. The transcript does not specially mark concurrent enrollment courses.

To ensure that credits are transferred and applied to their degree program, students must request that an official transcript be sent to the college they will be attending. It is recommended that students wait until after last semester grades have been posted to order the official transcript so that it will include all grades. Including an unofficial transcript in college applications will demonstrate the student’s enrollment in college coursework and grades to date. For important information about the credit transfer process, read Transferring Your College Credit.

For more information on Concurrent Enrollment contact Rhonda Kowalski at rmk@tompkinscortland.edu.