Career & College Promise Dual Enrollment

Success in today’s global economy may require a certificate, diploma, or a college degree. Through Career & College Promise (CCP) dual enrollment, qualified high-school-age students in North Carolina can jumpstart their career or college education while still in high school — tuition free.

Why Choose Central Piedmont

Did you know that, according to a national study by the Community College Research Center (CCRC), 88% of students who earned dual enrollment credit in high school attended college after high school, and most earned a certificate or degree within five years? There are lots of great reasons to participate in Career & College Promise dual enrollment at Central Piedmont:

  • A cost-effective way to earn college credit.
  • Transfer courses credit earned with a "C" or higher.
  • Smaller class sizes than many universities.
  • Access to college resources.

Each program offered gets you started on your career, whether it requires a certificate, diploma, 2-year degree, 4-year degree, or beyond. This tuition-free program eases your financial burden and makes your educational and career goals attainable.

Books and fees are not covered — refer to enrollment step 10 for more details.

Attend a dual enrollment information session

What You Will Learn

Beyond mastering the knowledge taught in your courses, you will begin to lay the groundwork for becoming a successful college student. Dual enrollment will help you:

  • Learn to advocate for yourself by communicating with instructors.
  • Practice managing your time, meeting deadlines, and handling the responsibilities of college.
  • Explore fields of study that may help you choose a career path.
  • Take the opportunity to work with your hands.
  • Experience a college environment while you still have plenty of support.

Real World Education

At Central Piedmont, your education goes beyond what you learn in class. We offer numerous opportunities for you to enhance your learning — and to make friends, network, and pursue your passions — through clubs and organizations, sports, events and activities, leadership opportunities, job experience, volunteer experiences, visual and performing arts, and even international experiences.

Conquer Possibility with Career and College Promise Dual Enrollment

Dual enrollment student interviews (video playlist)

Program Options: Dual Enrollment Pathways

You can only take the courses in your selected pathway. If you register for classes outside of your pathway, the college will drop your class(es). In a given semester, you can be in up to two pathways at once, e.g., one transfer pathway or one career and technical pathway; two career and technical pathways; one career and technical pathway and one transfer pathway.

Eligibility Criteria

  • College Transfer Pathways

    • High school junior or senior
    • Have an unweighted high school GPA of at least 2.8 or benchmark assessment scores in all areas (English, reading, math)
  • Career and Technical Pathways

    Juniors and Seniors

    Must have an unweighted high school GPA/UGPA of at least 2.8, or benchmark assessment scores in all areas (English, reading, math), or, for many pathways, have your principal/high school designee's recommendation.

    Freshmen and Sophomores

    Freshmen and sophomores can choose from pathway options listed above. Ask your school's counselor if 9th and 10th graders can do dual enrollment — not all schools allow this at this time. If your school allows freshmen and sophomores to participate, you must have:

    • recommendation of your high school principal or their designee (assessment scores should be considered) and rationale for recommendation
    • passed Math I with a grade of C or better
    • score of 3 or greater on the End of Course assessment (EOC) for Math I
    • score of 3, 4, or 5 on the 8th grade End of Grade ELA assessment

    Or:

    • recommendation of your high school principal or their designee (assessment scores should be considered) and rationale for recommendation
    • demonstrated college readiness in English, reading, and mathematics on an assessment (review Benchmark Scores (PDF))

  • Advanced Placement Scores

    Advanced Placement (AP) is a College Board program that offers college-level curricula and examinations to high school students. Colleges and universities may grant placement and course credit to students who obtain high benchmark scores on the examinations. View course credit that may be granted for specific advanced placement exam results. Official AP Exam transcripts must be sent from College Board to the following address:

    Office of Admissions
    Central Piedmont Community College
    PO Box 35009
    Charlotte, NC 28235

    Alternatively, the high school designee only can email an unofficial AP exam transcript directly to Career & College Promise.

    • MAT 271 Placement

      You may place directly into MAT 271 if you have met at least one of the following criteria within the past five years:

      • An unweighted high school GPA of at least 3.5 and at least a C grade in the North Carolina Standard Course of Study Pre-Calculus course or an equivalent course from another state
      • Earned a score/grade of:
        • 2 or higher on the AP Calculus AB Exam
        • C or higher in an AP Calculus course and an unweighted high school GPA of 3.0 or higher
        • 46 or higher on the trigonometry section of the ACT Compass Math Placement Test
        • 580 or higher on the old (prior to March 2016) SAT Math and a grade of C or higher in the North Carolina Standard Course of Study Pre-Calculus course or an equivalent course from another state
        • 600 or higher on the new (March 2016 and beyond) SAT Math and a grade of C or higher in the North Carolina Standard Course of Study Pre-Calculus course or an equivalent course from another state
        • 24 or higher on the ACT Math and a grade of C or higher in the North Carolina Standard Course of Study Pre-Calculus course or an equivalent course from another state
        • 560 or higher on the SAT Subject Test in Mathematics Level 2
    • Accommodations

      Student accommodation plans such as an IEP or 504, do not automatically transfer to college. High school students who would like to access accommodations at Central Piedmont can connect with Disability and Access Services. Learn about the differences between high school and college for students with disabilities.

    When to Apply and Register for Classes

    Dual Enrollment candidates are required to get approval from your high school to participate in this program. Each high school has their own approval deadlines separate from Central Piedmont’s application deadlines — your school's deadlines may be before ours. Give yourself lots of time and get started. We cannot override your high school deadlines.

    • Application Deadlines

      Spring 2023

      Term Last day to apply 
      Second spring 8-week session Friday, February 24, 2023

      Summer 2023

      Term Last day to apply 
      Summer session Wednesday, May 3, 2023

      Fall 2023

      Term Last day to apply 
      Fall full semester Friday, July 28, 2023
      12-week session Friday, August 25, 2023
      Second fall 8-week session Friday, September 29, 2023
    • When You Can Register for Classes

      Spring 2023 

      Your registration date is dependent on the date you submitted all of your required application documents. View the submission dates to know when you are eligible to register.

      Summer 2023

      If you submit all of your application documents You can register for classes beginning:
      Friday, February 17 – Friday, March 31 Monday, April 17
      Saturday, April 1 – Friday, April 7 Monday, April 24
      Saturday, April 8 – Friday, April 14 Monday, May 1
      Saturday, April 15 and later After Monday, May 1, allow up to 10 business days for us to process your application documents

      Fall 2023

      If you submit all of your application documents You can register for classes beginning:
      Friday, February 17 – Friday, April 21 Monday, May 8
      Saturday, April 22 – Friday, April 28 Monday, May 15
      Saturday, April 29 – Friday, May 5 Monday, May 22
      Saturday, May 6 – Friday, May 12 Monday, May 30
      Saturday, May 13 and later After Monday, May 30, allow up to 10 business days for us to process your application documents
    • Deadlines to Pay Fees

      • Spring 2023

      If you do not pay all your required student fees by the deadline, your courses will be dropped automatically. If you register for a 12-week, 8-week, or 4-week session after the full semester starts, you must pay your balance due by the Monday after you register. If you register on a Monday after the full semester starts, your payment is due when you register.

      • Summer 2023: Monday, May 15, 2023
      • Fall 2023: Friday, August 11, 2023
    • When Classes Start

      Visit the college registration page for semester and session start dates.

    Apply for Career & College Promise Dual Enrollment

    Complete the following steps if you want to stay at your high school and take college courses via Career & College Promise dual enrollment. CMS Middle College High School is a different program with different enrollment steps.

    • 1. Attend a Career & College Promise Information Session (All Students)

      Before you begin the process of enrolling in Career & College Promise, parents and students are strongly encouraged, but not required, to attend a dual enrollment information session for a comprehensive overview of the program.

      You can also get your questions about Central Piedmont Career & College Promise dual enrollment answered at a virtual Q and A (no sessions currently — offered the first week of registration for each semester and the first week of each semester).

    • 2. Submit the Career & College Promise Application, Get Your Student ID (All Students)

      Career & College Promise application. This is required for getting your Central Piedmont student ID number so you can complete the rest of the enrollment steps.

      Once we have processed your application, you will receive an email from the email address noreply@cpcc.edu. This email will include your student ID number, which you need when you create your Central Piedmont login (step 4). If you do not receive an email with your student ID within three business days of submitting your Career & College Promise application, please check your junk or spam email folder. If it is not there, please email ccp@cpcc.edu to ask about the status of your application.

    • 3. Request High School Transcripts (CMS, Bradford Prep, and Lake Norman Charter Students Only)

      To submit a copy of your most recent high school transcripts to Central Piedmont, you need to create a CFNC username/password:

      1. Go to CFNC.org.
      2. Select "Apply to College."
      3. Select "Application Hub."
      4. Select "Request a Transcript."
      5. Complete the fields accurately.
      6. Enter Central Piedmont Community College in the "Search Campuses" field.
      7. Select "Request My Transcript" in the "Selected Schools" field.
    • 4. Create Your Central Piedmont Login and Sign Up for Multi-factor Authentication

      Once you get the email with your ID number (step 2), claim and activate your student login account the following day. (If you have trouble activating your account, contact the ITS Service Desk or a student success navigator.) Your Central Piedmont login is also your Central Piedmont email.

      At least an hour after creating your Central Piedmont login, you'll be able to use your login to access your student email account, personal information, and academic records; register for classes; view and pay your bills; and log on to Central Piedmont computers.

      Once you have access, it's very important that you go into the account management portal and add a secondary email to help you access your account if you ever forget your password. You can then reset your password anytime using the "Forgot Password?" option in the account management portal.

      Your Central Piedmont email is the college's official means of communicating with you. Check your Central Piedmont student email every day to make sure you don't miss important messages from us, your instructors, advisors, the Cashier's office, campus alerts, and more.

      All students are required to sign up for multi-factor authentication (MFA) starting on March 6, 2023. Learn more about how to set up MFA on your device.

    • 5. Meet with your High School Liaison (CMS Students and Students at Listed Partner Schools)

      If you attend a partner school, you must meet with your school's career development coordinator (CDC) or Career & College Promise liaison to determine if you are eligible to do Career & College Promise and to be submitted to participate (your high school's approval is required.)

      You must meet with your career development coordinator before enrolling in Career & College Promise each semester you want to do dual enrollment. Know that each school may have their own additional participation guidelines as well.

      Career development coordinator/high school liaison list

    • 6. Check if You Need to Take Placement Tests

      You need to take the Central Piedmont placement test if:

      You can take the test at no charge by appointment only at any of our campuses where it is available. You are encouraged to review the practice test on the website to study and prepare for the test. Schedule placement testing (if needed).

    • 7. Submit Paperwork (Non-CMS/Partner School Students)

      If you don't go to a CMS or partner school, you must submit all of the following documentation. We need this documentation to successfully process your application so you can enroll in the program and register for classes. You must submit all the information together — if your documentation is incomplete or missing any required documents, it will not be saved or processed. As a non-partner school student, you must submit this paperwork each semester you want to participate in dual enrollment.

      Required Documents

      Submit Your Paperwork

      You can submit your completed documentation packet either of the following ways:

      • Email a copy directly to ccp@cpcc.edu.
      • Submit your packet in person to any campus Admissions department (they will send them to us).

      Please allow up to 10 business days for us to process your documents once we receive them. Check your Central Piedmont student email for status updates.

    • 8. Complete Career & College Promise Checkpoint Orientation and Advising (All Students)

      Your first semester doing Career & College Promise dual enrollment, you are required to complete orientation and first semester advising, called Checkpoint, and take the Checkpoint quiz to get credit for completing this requirement.

      You must pass the Checkpoint quiz to receive credit for completing orientation.

      You are responsible for the information covered to orientation. You can refer back to the presentation at any time, but you only need to complete this requirement once. You will not be able to register for classes your first semester until this is completed; we verify your quiz results and mark completion in our database.

      Checkpoint Presentation and Quiz

    • 9. Register for Classes (All Students)

      Once we have processed your paperwork, we will place you into your chosen pathway and send an email to your Central Piedmont email letting you know that you are clear to register for classes.

      Then, register for classes online using Student Planning menu in MyCollege. You may only register for courses from your approved pathway; otherwise, you will be considered out of pathway and will be dropped from the course(s).

      How to register for courses using MyCollege (video)

    • 10. Check and Pay College Fees (All Students)

      The dual enrollment program is tuition-free for fall, spring, and summer semesters. However:

      • Non-CMS students (including homeschool students): you are responsible for paying student fees each semester.
      • CMS, Bradford Prep, Jackson Day School, and Sugar Creek Charter students: you are responsible for paying student fees during summer semesters.

      You must pay student fees two business days before the first day of the semester. Otherwise, your courses will be dropped. Check your balance and pay your bill through your MyCollege account.

      Fees are non-refundable once the semester starts. For questions about the fee structure, please contact the Sponsored Programs office.

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    Additional Information