Northern Virginia Community College is offering free online courses to high school students in certain Northern Virginia schools through their new JumpStart Program.
This program allows up to 3,500 students to take and gain transferable college credit from two of the following classes: History and Appreciation of Art I, Introduction to Communication, College Composition I (open only to recent high school graduates), History of World Civilization II, Cloud Computing: Infrastructure and Services, and Quantitative Reasoning.
All of the classes, which will be taught by NOVA and dual-enrollment instructors, give students three college credits. The courses will last from June 1 to July 15.
“These classes were chosen because they apply to NOVA degrees and a high percentage of transfer pathways, and are designated as Passport courses in Virginia; thus, they transfer very well,” said a statement on the college’s website.
The JumpStart program is funded by a portion of the college’s institutional federal stimulus money and was created due to the college’s understanding that this school year did not end well for students.
“As a strong community partner, NOVA understands our area high school students did not have a great end to their academic year. We are deeply committed to ensuring students get the academic preparation necessary to propel them successfully into their post-secondary career,” said the statement from the college.
To take the classes, students must meet certain academic or testing criteria, such as a 3.0 GPA, a verified math SOL, an 18 on the reading/English portion of the ACT, or other requirements that can be found on the program’s website.
To apply for the program, students must apply to Northern Virginia Community College, wait 24 hours for their application to process, and then apply to the JumpStart Program. The application is currently open, and the deadline to apply is May 15. Both applications require no essays or supplements and only require an upload of the aforementioned academic requirements to take the classes. All students under 18 must get parental permission to enroll in the classes.
If students find that they dislike their classes, they may drop their JumpStart class by June 7 or can withdraw from the course with no grade penalty by June 28.
“We want students to see the many benefits of starting at NOVA and completing a degree with us!” read the statement, “It is our hope that we can attract these students to stay for fall 2020 and beyond.”
The online courses are open to rising high school seniors and recent high school graduates in the following districts/schools:
- Alexandria
- Arlington
- Falls Church
- Fairfax County
- Loudoun County
- Manassas
- Manassas Park
- Prince William County
- Paul VI Catholic High School
- Christ Chapel Academy
- Fairfax Christian School
- Bishop Ireton High School
- Wakefield Private School
Students are not required to be U.S. citizens to take the classes, they can be permanent residents or eligible non-citizens.
