College Connections Students

Enroll in College Connections

Congratulations on your decision to accept the challenge of taking college courses while in high school. You will experience the pace, rigor, and personal responsibility that are crucial to success in college.

College Connections courses are taught by approved high school instructors who partner with JCC faculty. We ensure that the course offered in your high school is consistent with those offered on campus. College Connections courses use the JCC curriculum, follow college assignments and testing requirements, and use college textbooks.

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How to apply to be a College Connections student

  1. Check with your high school to see which courses are available. Each high school offers its own set of courses.
  2. Complete the ACCUPLACER placement test at your high school (if needed for the course you want to take). You must meet course-specific minimum requirements in order to take that course.
  3. Earn college credit once you complete your course. Your grade will be recorded on an official JCC transcript.

Additional information

JCC is sponsored by Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties. Students who are residents of Allegany, Erie, Wyoming, or any county in New York State other than Chautauqua or Cattaraugus must fill out a certificate of residence (COR) form, as required by New York State education law. Students who have lived in either Chautauqua or Cattaraugus counties for less than one year are also required to submit a COR to any NYS county they resided in during the past 12 months.

The COR form must be signed, notarized, and submitted once per academic year. Students who do not have a valid COR on file will either be dropped from their JCC course(s) or required to pay tuition.

Students may drop a course in the first few weeks during the open registration period. Once the instructor has verified the roster (census), a student must formally withdraw from the course. To formally withdraw from a course, notify your high school instructor and school counselor. You may withdraw from a course through the last day of final exams and receive a "W" grade. Students must discuss withdrawing with their instructor and obtain their signature on the withdrawal form. A school counselor should also sign off on the withdrawal form. If the form cannot be physically signed, the student should email the instructor stating that they wish to withdraw from the course and give details as to why. The instructor may then forward the email to the counselor acknowledging they have communicated with the student about withdrawing, and the counselor may then forward the email on to the College Connections office.

Withdrawing from a course may affect a student’s future Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) at JCC. A student must withdraw if they no longer attend class, quit school, or move out of the district. Failure to properly withdraw from a course will result in the student receiving a grade.

All program instructors and school counselors are made aware of the withdrawal dates at the beginning of the academic year. Dates are also posted online along with the withdrawal form.

Qualified students are primarily juniors and seniors. Sophomores* are permitted to enroll if they:

  • will be 15 years of age or older by the conclusion of the course,
  • have earned a cumulative grade point average of 80% or better in previous high school-level coursework,
  • are approved for this challenging academic experience by their high school counselors,
  • receive permission to enroll in College Connections from a parent/guardian, and
  • are approved for enrollment by their instructor during roster verification.

*Special considerations may be available for students in P-TECH and other cohort-based programs or in consultation with JCC’s College Connections director, the appropriate academic director/coordinator, and the appropriate academic dean.

Your school counselor will help guide you through the registration process. You will discuss with them which courses interest you and they will go over course prerequisites and placement test requirements, if any, to determine which courses you can ultimately take.

College Connections students attending a NYS partner district are charged a reduced in-state tuition rate of $0 for classes offered at their high school. A few courses require fees. French and Spanish language courses carry a lab fee, which may or may not be paid for by the high school (check with your high school guidance office.) Students enrolling in online courses are required to pay a technology fee and learning network fee. For BIO 1570: Principles of Biology, CHE 1550: College Chemistry I, and CHE 1560: College Chemistry II, students generally enroll in the lecture portion of the course at their high schools and enroll in the lab portion of the course on campus. Students pay one credit hour of tuition, associated lab fees, and are responsible for any lab materials or textbooks required for the course.

College Connections students are included in JCC’s Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) policy. Under the FERPA policy, students have a right to expect that information in their education records will be kept confidential and will be disclosed only with their permission or under provisions of the law. For purposes of FERPA, JCC considers all students independent (regardless of their age). Education records (including course grades) will not be provided to parents without the prior written consent of the student.

You’ll tell your school counselor which courses interest you. Your school counselor will go over course prerequisites and placement test requirements to determine which courses you can ultimately take. For courses that require placement testing, your school counselor will schedule online ACCUPLACER testing at your high school and tell you the test date and time. After the test, you’ll review your results with your school counselor.

Like on-campus students, you’ll have a limit of one test and one retest per academic year. College Connections placement testing takes place the spring semester prior to the upcoming academic year.

You must meet testing requirements prior to registering for courses, so make sure you complete testing before you leave for summer vacation!

As part of the course registration process, you'll need a parent or guardian's consent to enroll in any College Connections courses.

Satisfactory academic progress is the expectation that you will show steady progress in accumulating credits toward graduation while maintaining a satisfactory grade point average. Depending on the situation, withdrawing from a course may affect SAP. Your future financial aid opportunities may require SAP while taking JCC coursework.

A transcript is a written record of your grades. Once enrolled in a College Connections course, an official college transcript will be generated and every course and grade that is earned will be recorded. Transcripts are updated at the completion of every semester. However, it may take up to 10 days for a course to appear on a transcript.

Complete a transcript request to authorize the registrar’s office to send your transcript directly to another college or to a prospective employer. Unofficial transcripts may be picked up in the registrar’s office.

As a College Connections student, you can continue your education at JCC or transfer your credits to another institution. College Connections students transfer thousands of JCC credits to other institutions each year. Past surveys show that less than 1% of students experienced difficulty in transferring credits.

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