Georgia Cyber Academy Graduation Requirements Students are required to complete 23 Total Credit Hours:

• 4 units of English/Language Arts (a full unit of American Literature and Ninth Grade Literature and Composition are required)

• 4 units of Math (Math 1 or GPS Algebra 1, Math II or GPS Geometry and Math III or GPS Advanced Algebra shall be required, the fourth unit of math must be chosen from the list of GPS/CCGPS/AP or dual enrollment courses)

• 4 units of Science (a full unit of Biology; one of Physical Science or Physics; one unit of either Chemistry, Earth     Systems or Environmental Science and one additional science unit are required)

• 3 units of Social Studies (a full unit of United States History; one unit of World History; ½ unit of American Government/Civics and ½ unit of Economics are required)

• 3 units of CTAE/World Language/Fine Arts: A total of 3 units shall be required. If a student plans to attend a 4 year college/university the student should take 2 consecutive years of the same World Language

• 4 units of elective credits

• ½ unit of Personal Fitness

• ½ unit of Health

Student participation in any dual enrollment program, as defined in the State Board Policy for Dual Enrollment Programs, is a student choice. Because this choice exists for students, it is the responsibility of the student and the parent/guardian to be knowledgeable about the program and its potential effects upon high school graduation, grade point averages, financial aid, and HOPE eligibility. Students are responsible for the information in the college/technical school catalog and both the college/technical school and GCA student handbook. Students are responsible for knowing and adhering to the college/technical school entrance and participation requirements, schedules, paperwork deadlines, associate degree requirements, and calendars.

A student shall be eligible to participate in the program if he/she: 

1. Is enrolled in a public or private high school, and 

2. Has not received a high school diploma, and 

3. Meets admission requirements and has been accepted by an eligible postsecondary institution. Eligible institutions are found here: https://www.gafutures.org/media/188152/dual-enrollment-eligible-psi-list.pdf 

4. 9th Graders are not eligible for DE and 10th Graders must take CTAE courses or meet ACT/SAT requirements to take CORE courses.

Participation in the program requires the student to:

Maintain communication with the student’s GCA DE school counselor while in any DE program and check GCA email daily as well as college email. As per GCA Handbook, student and parent must return all emails and phone calls within 24 hours.

Student is required to complete Naviance activities and counseling assignments.

Students taking DE Career Technical and Agricultural and Educational (CTAE) courses that are considered to be pathway completers (completion of a minimum of 3 consecutive pathways courses) will have the opportunity to take an End of Pathway Exam (EOPA) which will allow students to have a work-credential related to their specific chosen CTAE DE course pathway.

Provide to the high school a copy of the college schedule upon class registration and register only for courses approved by the GCA DE school counselor.

Complete online SPA and DE Funding Application by the posted college’s and GSFC deadline (must be received prior to processing of funds). Any fees not considered mandatory are the responsibility of the student. This may include, but is not limited to, lab and/or supplies fees, and/or charges for damaged or late return of textbooks.

Obtain counselor approval BEFORE any changes or withdrawals are made to the college schedule.

Courses that are dropped or withdrawn from must be replaced with either GCA or another college course. Students must have a full schedule as defined by the FTE designation at the beginning of the school year. As each semester starts, students must check that their Infinite Campus schedule matches their registered college courses and desired GCA courses.

A student is not eligible to receive DE funding or high school credit for courses not selected from the DE Course Directory. https://www.gafutures.org/checs/dualenrollment/DECourseDirectory

All first-time participating students have funding capped at 30 semester/45 quarter hours. The per term maximum of 15 semester or 12 quarter hours continues. Additional Dual Enrollment hours may be paid by the student and or the HOPE Grant Bridge and HOPE Career Grant funding (Student must meet eligibility requirements.) Students can self-pay under certain circumstances. These courses must still be approved by GCA DE Counselor.

Students who withdraw from two dual enrollment courses will no longer be eligible for dual enrollment funding.   Dual enrollment will not pay for courses repeated due to failing or withdrawing from a class.

Students are responsible for monitoring their funding and their remaining hours.

Students participating in DE college/technical school courses should do so with the knowledge that the course work may be more rigorous and challenging than high school courses. Students are held to a higher degree of independent responsibility and accountability than in regular high school classes.

Students will follow the rules and regulations of the college/technical school and Georgia Cyber Academy according to the college/technical school and GCA handbook. Where there may be a conflict in rules and regulations, the GCA Handbook supersedes the college/technical school handbook.

The student is responsible for knowing and agrees to abide by all deadlines set by GCA, the college/technical school, and the Georgia Department of Education regarding their dual enrollment.

Students are responsible for completing all GCA required assessments such as MAP, IAs, Finals, and any other required testing as required by the school.

Students will provide his/her own transportation to in-seat courses at the college/technical school.

It is the student’s responsibility to submit to the college/technical school all necessary SSD (services for students with disabilities) documentation, if services are being requested. Note- GCA 504’s and IEP’s do not transfer to the college/technical school setting. The college’s/technical school’s Office of Disability Services will determine eligibility.

Student must complete all required courses and number of credits for high school graduation as determined by the Georgia Department of Education and Georgia Cyber Academy.

Seniors must submit the official college transcript to the high school five (5) days before the end of the spring semester to be eligible to participate in the Georgia Cyber Academy graduation rehearsals and ceremony. All students must ensure that a transcript or final grades from the college is sent to GCA.

For the college final exams that conflict with the student’s high school schedule, the student must make arrangements with their high school teacher for any missed assignments. Please note: Post-secondary institutions do NOT follow the GCA calendar. Students are expected to meet attendance requirements and follow the schedule of the post-secondary institution for DE courses. Students must follow the Georgia Cyber Academy calendar in all other aspects.

As participation in dual enrollment courses is optional, GCA may not provide additional software or supplies as may be required by the college/technical school beyond a student loaner computer. Therefore, it is the student’s and/or parent’s/legal guardian’s responsibility to provide additional software or supplies as may be required by the college/technical school.

Students are required to follow the GCA school calendar, which includes one hundred eighty (180) school days.  The student is also required to attend all their college/technical school classes per that institution’s requirements, which may require additional days of attendance beyond the GCA calendar and its 180 days.

Per SBOE Rule 160-5-1.02, the minimum number of hours required per school they are as follows:

6th-12th Grade 5.5 hours per day.  At a minimum, this amount of time must be reflected in Nucleus daily.

If a student's Nucleus attendance records are less than half of the required hours for the grade band, they will be counted absent for that day.   

Six (6) unexcused absences from required GCA class sessions equals one (1) unexcused day of school. 

Students are considered present for a GCA class if they attend the entire session and/or as may be applicable watch the entire recorded class session.

Please be aware that a student can be withdrawn for failing to log in daily to GCA platforms/systems (Canvas, Google, Clever), attend homeroom, and attend all required GCA classes.

Please be aware that failure to follow GCA Attendance Requirements as agreed to in this document will result in a student not being allowed to participate in DE course options for the subsequent semester.

Time spent in GCA live classes will automatically be logged in Nucleus.

Time spent watching GCA required class recordings, if applicable, will need to be logged in Nucleus daily by the parent/legal guardian.

Time spent in College/Technical School DE classes and/or offline minutes will need to be logged in Nucleus daily by the parent/legal guardian.

All students must log into GCA Online School (GOLS) via Canvas every day.

All students must log into GCA’s Google, Clever, and Canvas systems every day.

Homeroom attendance is required daily for all students, including DE students. Homeroom is a vital part of effective GCA communication, used to relate important secondary grade band information/deadlines, may contain graduation requirements/updates/deliverables, and where legislatively required content is delivered by the counseling department. If there is a DE course conflict with attending the live homeroom session, the student may watch the homeroom recording within forty-eight (48) hours to be counted present for homeroom.  To receive Homeroom Recording Flexibility, it must be approved by the student’s counselor after review of the student’s DE course schedule to confirm there is a conflict.

IF a DE student is enrolled in a combination of GCA classes and college/technical school classes, the student must still attend all required GCA classes per the GCA schedule. GCA class attendance is required daily for all students, including DE students. If there is a DE course conflict with attending the required live GCA class session, the student may watch the GCA class recording within 48 hours to be counted present for the required GCA class session.  To receive GCA Required Class Recording Flexibility, it must be approved by the student’s counselor after review of the student’s DE course schedule to confirm there is a conflict. 

Dual enrollment students will have elevated permissions on their GCA provided devices to accommodate their various course requirements. If an additional GCA device is warranted for a DE course, the student must return the additional device at the end of the course.  Students must still continue to use all assigned GCA devices in accordance with GCA technology policies. 

Students must work with college advisors to determine appropriate classes for their planned major.   Students must refer to www.gatracs.org for transfer information or consult their future college if they plan to attend a different college after dual enrollment.

College Hours High School Credits: The semester/quarter hours awarded by the postsecondary institution will be converted to Carnegie Units on the student’s transcript. One to Two Semester Credit Hours = .5 High School Unit Credit; Three or more Semester Credit Hours = 1.0 High School Unit Credit; One to Three Quarter Credit Hours = .5 High School Unit Credit; Four or more Quarter Credit Hours = 1.0 High School Unit Credit.

NCAA: Courses taken with GCA are not eligible for NCAA requirements. Dual Enrollment credits can be used but taking the full amount through college/technical school credit is very rigorous and expensive as it requires over thirty (30) hours. It is the student/parent’s responsibility to monitor courses required for NCAA and ensure those are met through an eligible dual enrollment college/technical school. More information on requirements can be seen here: http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/EB18- 19_single.pdf

A student will receive final marks for all dual enrollment coursework. If a student withdraws from a course, he/she will receive a “Z” (withdrawn) as a final mark on the GCA Official Transcript. The “Z” does not count for any amount of credit. Students must withdraw from a class directly with the college advisor. The GCA DE Counselor must give permission for all withdrawals.

The student’s letter grade on the college transcript will be converted to a numeric grade. A=95, B=85, C=75, D=70 and F or WF=69, W=Z (A ‘Z’ does not affect GPA and does not count for credit). Please note that not all colleges/technical schools award credit for a “D” grade and therefore, if no credit is awarded, a failing grade will be listed on the GCA transcript. All DE courses and the course grade will become part of the student’s high school permanent transcript.

The student is required to meet all state and GCA assessment requirements. Students will be required to take End of Course state assessments required for specific courses taken at both the high school and/or college/technical school. 

Per the state, Biology, if taking for the first time at a college/technical school, will require the student to take the Biology EOC. American Literature taken through dual enrollment requires the American Literature EOC to be taken as well. From year to year, the state may require additional EOC assessments.

The EOC Assessment will count as 20% of the student’s final grade for American Literature and Biology. From year to year, the state may require additional EOC assessments. If additional EOC Assessments are required by the state for a given course they will count 20% of the student’s final grade for that course.

The courses taken by the student at the college/technical school may contain some but not all of the concepts and topics taught in high school courses. (NOTE: High school courses must be based on the Common Core Georgia Performance Standards or Georgia Standards of Excellence. College courses do not have to meet this requirement.)

The student is responsible for making arrangements with Georgia Cyber Academy to take all required state and GCA assessments.

A student’s graduation may be delayed if:

1. A student withdraws from or fails a dual enrollment course needed for graduation. Students are not guaranteed high school level course placement beyond the first ten (10) days of the semester for any dropped/withdrawn dual enrollment courses.

2. A student withdraws from a college/technical school class or fails a college/technical school class needed for graduation and is unable to enroll in a district high school or college course that will allow on-time graduation. NOTE: Not every course is offered each semester, therefore the student may have to wait an additional semester to take a replacement course to recover the necessary graduation credit.

3. A student withdraws from a college/technical school class and enters a high school class, potentially missing course content and not performing well enough to earn high school course credit.

4. Credit Recovery is not offered for most college/technical school dual enrollment courses; therefore the student may have to wait an additional semester to take a replacement course to recover the necessary graduation credit.

GCA Dual Enrollment Students must complete the required Dual Enrollment Canvas Module.  

Both the student and parent/legal guardian must have attended the GCA Dual Enrollment Information Session in January or have viewed a recording of the January 2022 GCA Dual Enrollment Information Session. 

Please do not submit a contract if both the student AND the parent/legal guardian have not watched the January 2022 GCA Dual Enrollment Information Session. 

The student and parent/guardian agree to abide by all rules and regulations set by GCA, the college/technical school, and the Georgia Department of Education regarding dual enrollment.

The student understands that failure to follow the requirements and responsibilities as agreed to in this document may result in the student not being allowed to participate in dual enrollment course options for the subsequent semester.

Yes, all DE students (both part-time and full-time) are still considered students enrolled at their high school.  Students are responsible for checking GCA emails and completing all tasks asked of GCA students.

College grades transfer as A = 95, B = 85, C = 75, D = 70 (If given college credit.  If D’s are passing at the college level, they are given our lowest passing grade), and F = 69.  If a student takes a college course that is 3 hours or more, they will earn 1.0 credit for the semester. If a student withdraws from a course and receives a W from the college AND does not replace the course with something at the high school, a Z will appear on the student's high school transcript.

Students must choose to take dual enrollment classes on the state's list of approved participating institutions.

DE grades earned at a University System of GA (USG) school are guaranteed to transfer to any other USG school.  Most public schools outside of GA will accept transfer grades from USG schools as well.  Some DE grades earned at a Technical College System of GA School will transfer to USG schools - See this chart.  However, students should always check with their future colleges to confirm their DE courses will transfer.  Colleges will typically have transfer tables available on their websites for students to confirm transferability.  You can also use the also use the GATRACS Transfer Student Planner www.gatracs.org to check to see how courses will transfer to your future college.

Students must request their transcript from the college through which they’re participating in DE to be sent to their future college for their grades and credits to transfer.  Their future college will not transfer their grades and credits solely from their high school transcript. High schools are unable to send college transcripts to a student's future college.