Metropolitan Community College - Kansas City

ADVANCED STANDING

Secondary to Postsecondary Advanced-Standing Articulation

Advanced standing articulation agreements are contracts that allow students who complete select "secondary" level courses in a satisfactory manner to obtain free college-level credit for that course work. Credit for the articulated courses is awarded once the student has enrolled at one of MCC colleges and completed a predetermined number of hours of additional credit in the same occupational area of study.

How do these agreements come about? Secondary school teachers meet with instructors from MCC to review and compare the concepts and skills students master in selected secondary-level courses with those offered at the postsecondary or college level at MCC. If the faculty from both institutions agree these concepts and skills are the same, an articulation agreement is prepared.

By eliminating duplication of course work, articulation gives students more time to master additional advanced skills that couldn't normally be included in a one-, two- or four-year postsecondary program schedule.

 

Agreement Stipulations

While advanced standing articulation does not cost high school students any tuition dollars, there are certain guidelines that govern how and when students are awarded the articulated credit.

• To obtain articulated credit a student must meet the agreement stipulations for satisfactory completion of the course or program. Most agreements stipulate the student must complete the program with an average of 80% or higher and receive certification by his or her program instructor.
• Each agreement specifies which MCC course(s) the student does not have to complete as an MCC student.
• The MCC credit a student earns at the high school level is held "in escrow" until the student earns a certain number of credits as an MCC student. In other words, a student who has earned 11 credits by completing a high school electronics program can have those 11 credits "transcripted" or recorded on his or her official MCC transcript once he or she has completed 15 credits as an MCC student.
• At least one course taken to earn those 15 MCC credits must be in same technical program area that the student earned articulated credit. In the example of the electronics students, he or she must take at least one course in MCC's Industrial Technologies program, which includes electronics courses.
• Articulated credit earned at the secondary level is available to the student for two years after high school or technical school graduation or for two years after ending documented employment in the same technical field as the secondary level program.

For example, a high school graduate who earned articulated credit through their computer technology program but who postpones entering college can still obtain that articulated credit as long as he/she works as a computer support technician or in another related field.

• When they first enroll, students must notify their MCC advisor/counselor of the articulated credit they have earned at the secondary level. The information is posted on the MCC computer system. Counselors and advisors use the information to assist the student in selecting courses.