Dual Enrollment and Early College

Dual Enrollment

Through Natick High School's partnership with MassBay Community College's Dual Enrollment Program (CDEP) students are eligible to enroll in a FREE MBCC college course and earn both college and high school credit!  A dual enrollment course would take place of one elective at NHS for Semester 2 of either junior or senior year; so you would need to work with your NHS counselor to adjust your schedule accordingly.

CDEP Dual Classes will run after the NHS School Day or fully online from January 21, 2025 - May 18, 2025.  There won’t be any classes during the February and April vacations or during the MassBay spring break in March. 

The flyer below includes a link to the course application. It also has the link to register for the optional information sessions.  Students can apply before the session or wait until after they have had their questions answered at a session.  They do not have to attend an information session to apply. The information sessions are open to students, parents, and any school staff who would like to attend.

This year, the courses being offered are (also please find the general information & course description flyers below):

  • Drugs and Society | Fully Online - No scheduled class meetings

  • Criminal Justice | MassBay Framingham Campus – Tuesdays 6:00-8:45 PM

  • Critical Thinking | MassBay Wellesley Campus | Mondays & Wednesdays 4:00-5:30 PM

  • Health Careers Exploration | MassBay Framingham Campus, This course will meet in person on select Thursdays: 1/23, 2/6, 2/27, 3/13, 3/27, 4/10 and 5/8 | 6:00-9:00 PM | The rest of the course is online.

  • Marketing | MassBay Framingham Campus, Mondays & Wednesdays 3:30-5:00 PM

  • Nutrition | Fully Online, No scheduled class meetings

PLEASE NOTE:  Only two courses - "Drugs and Society" and "Nutrition" are being offered fully online (and cannot be taken again, if it was taken last school year as a junior).  If a student registers for any of the other courses, it is the student's responsibility to organize transportation, as NHS and MBCC will not provide transportation to or from the college.

Representatives of MBCC will be offering three information sessions in the upcoming weeks in order for you to learn more about the dual enrollment program and the classes MBCC is offering. Those dates are: 

  • Tuesday, December 10, 2024 | 4:00 PM

  • Wednesday, December 11, 2024 | 6:30 PM

  • Thursday, December 12, 2024 | 6:30 PM

Please plan to attend one of those meetings if you are interested in taking a course through MBCC during Semester 2. Once you sign up for the information session, a link for the virtual meeting will be emailed to you. You can sign up for the information sessions here:  Information Session Registration.

The deadline to register for one of the five dual enrollment courses is DECEMBER 27, 2024. Please find the flyer below to this email with the link to register for both the information sessions and for the course itself. The application for the dual enrollment classes can also be found here:  Dual Enrollment Application.

If you have any questions or need help filling out the registration forms, please see Mr. Nardi in the guidance department.

POSTER: CDEP DUAL ENROLLMENT POSTER

Note About Dual Enrollment:

Free Dual Enrollment CDEP Courses taken during the spring semester will automatically go on a student's NHS transcript and will count for elective credit toward graduation.  This is because the course counts as one of the student's seven classes for the semester at NHS.  Students may not take a CDEP class as an 8th class in a semester.  The course does not factor into the student's GPA.

Dual Enrollment Classes that are taken outside of the CDEP-specific offerings OR over the summer - in general - may be added to a student's NHS transcript (by student request and by bringing in an official transcript from MBCC).  The course will simply be listed on the transcript, but will not count toward graduation requirements or a student's GPA.

Early College Programs

Early College is a way for a student to start the foundation of a college degree, while simultaneously expressing interest in a college education at a particular school.  Some programs issue college credits, while others are simply experiential.  There are many options for Early College Programs across the country, each with their particular application process and requirements.  

Here are four examples of Early College Programs: