Frequently Asked Questions

Enacted by the legislature in 2008, SYP was created to provide increased and more equal access to college credit and advanced placement courses. Courses delivered through SYP provide students the opportunity to take a rigorous college curriculum and receive, in many cases, both high school and college credit concurrently. These courses are paid for by the school district. SYP includes the following:

• • Post Secondary Enrollment Options (PSEO)- courses taken at the university or private college level 
  • Concurrent Enrollment- courses taken at the community college level
  • Career Academies taken at a community college
  • Advanced Placement (AP) coursework.

Courses taken at the university or private college level.

Enrollment with a public school district of a child who is receiving CPI for the purpose of attending one or more courses, participating in extracurricular activities offered by the district, or obtaining special education programs or services (if required by the child’s IEP). In addition, the district must provide appropriate instructional materials to dually enrolled students, if the parent, guardian, or legal or actual guardian so requests, on the same basis these materials are provided to regularly enrolled children The reporting requirements, including Form A, apply to dually enrolled children receiving CPI under both Option 1 and Option 2. NOTE: Dual-enrollment must be indicated on the CPI form by September 15.

Individual student enrollment in eligible college courses, with tuition reimbursed by the school. The Postsecondary Enrollment Options Act is intended to promote rigorous academic pursuits and to provide a wider variety of options to high school students by enabling ninth through twelfth-grade students to enroll part-time in nonsectarian courses in eligible postsecondary institutions of higher learning in Iowa. A ninth or tenth-grade student who is identified as a gifted and talented student according to the school district’s criteria and procedures may participate under this Act. There will be no charge to the student for tuition, textbooks, materials, or fees. However, a student may be required to purchase equipment that becomes the property of the student. The Act provides that the school district shall pay a tuition reimbursement amount to the postsecondary institution that has enrolled the student.

These classes provide area high school students with excellent educational opportunities. All DMACC Career Academy consortium programs are one year long (two semesters). Several academies offer a second year of programming. Students must complete Year 1 before enrolling in Year 2. Registration in these courses is handled by local guidance counselors and principals. Some of the educational programs include state-of-the-art facilities for auto collision, automotive technology, building trades, criminal forensics, culinary arts, health, teaching academy, visual communication/graphic design, career work experience, and welding. Explore the career academy offerings at the Ames Hunziker Center. Other options may be taken at other campuses and can be found on the DMACC site. Get to know the academies offered in Ankeny.

Learn more about ACT.

Learn more about PSAT.

Learn more about SAT.

Student enrollment in high school classes providing preparation for AP college credit exams. Get a taste of college-level work while developing the academic skills you’ll need for college success. You might even discover your career path. Your AP Exam scores can earn you college credit before you set foot on campus—and let you skip introductory college courses. Go to the AP website.

This is the Talented and Gifted program for Ames CSD. Contact Josh Gorman, the AHS ELP Coordinator, if you should have any questions.

Not to be confused with Career Academy 1-2 year consortium programs described above. These are simply regular DMACC courses offered asynchronously (but use the words career academy in their title as well). Because of coordination between AHS schedules, many of our students choose OLCA as a mode of instruction for DMACC SYP options.

Regular on campus course offerings taught at DMACC.

Private instruction provided on a daily basis for at least one hundred forty-eight days during a school year, to be met by attendance for at least thirty-seven days each school quarter, by or under the supervision of a licensed practitioner in the manner provided under Iowa Code. The CPI category includes home schooled children who are not enrolled in independent private instruction and those in non-accredited nonpublic schools.

This application can be filled out anytime after Oct. 1 of a college-bound senior’s year. Even if you are certain your family will not qualify for federal financial aid because of your family’s income bracket, many colleges require a FAFSA to be on file in order to be considered for merit-based scholarships as well as need-based scholarships. This application is completed each year your student is in college. Read more about FAFSA online.

Senior Year Plus (SYP) serves as an umbrella for a variety of programs designed to provide high school students access to courses that have the potential to generate college credit. SYP includes courses taken at Iowa Regent Universities, community colleges and AP programming which the district pays for.

No, students may not enroll in a course in an eligible postsecondary education institution if a comparable course is available in the local school district which is defined in rules adopted by the board of directors of the public school district.

As of 7/1/2020, there is no longer a credit limit. Previously, the cap was 23 credits/institution/year. However, a dual-enrolled student is limited to no more than the equivalent of 6 periods of AHS classes.

Yes, but any courses that a student chooses to self-pay may not be counted towards the student’s AHS course requirements and will not be included on the AHS transcript. A student would self-pay for courses in the event that the course being taken is not approved under SYP or a student chooses to take it in the summer. The student pays the regular college admission rate, not the district discounted rate.

Yes. The credits from the other institutions help gauge how many classes are counted from the college courses (DMACC/Iowa State). For example, if a student is to take the CTE Health Occupations course (CNA) and that takes 3 periods of AHS time, then that counts as 3 of the 6 allowed courses. Get more information on the Department of Education Senior Year Plus page.

Students can take summer courses or pay for courses not allowed under SYP during the school year but would pay for the course themselves at the regular tuition rate of the community college or university. Additionally, those courses would not be allowed to be used towards AHS graduation requirements.

This document summarizes ISU and DMACC Senior Year Plus options, including deadlines and contacts.

A student may not expect to receive an AHS diploma while maintaining dual-enrollment status.

Yes, each year the alphabet is divided by the students’ last names. Homeschool students will follow the same alphabetical assignments. AHS Counselor Assignments

No

No

A student under dual enrollment must receive at least one-quarter of their instruction by way of CPI (homeschool) and no more than three-quarters by way of the district’s academic programs, which includes SYP (courses taken at the college level paid for by the district)  programming. Since AHS is on an 8-period day, a student may take up to 6 periods at AHS courses or the equivalent in SYP coursework.

Yes. Dually enrolled students are allowed to take courses on the same basis as a regularly enrolled student of the district. Once a district establishes a sharing agreement with a postsecondary institution, outlining contracted courses, those courses become available in all delivery modes for an eligible student to enroll (face-to-face in the high school; face-to-face on campus; online). A district contracts courses, not the method of delivery of those courses. A school may encourage enrollment through one delivery mode over another (a high school location rather than online, for example), but an eligible student may access the course through any available option. Read more about accessing online post-secondary courses through Senior Year Plus programs.

AHS offers courses that are DMACC courses on the AHS campus. This statement says that technically a student may take that course at AHS or on the DMACC campus. The available courses are listed on the Ames Career Advantage page. Since it is a contracted course and part of the AHS registration book, that student may opt to take it online or on campus at DMACC as well as on the AHS campus.

Yes. However, a student which wishes to dual-enroll at AHS will not be required to take PE as one of their 6 allowed credits each semester.

For full-time students, one semester of PE is now required by all students (there are no longer any sports Exemptions for PE). Each semester is one credit.

No. Additionally, if a dual-enrolled student decides to attend AHS as a full-time student later in their high school years and will not be obtaining a diploma from AHS, they will not be required to take PE as one of their courses while they are full-time.

No, ELP seminar is taken during plus period and therefore does not count towards the allowed 6 courses for dual enrollment.

Counselors keep placeholders for DMACC/ISU courses. Also, registration for college courses does not take place at the same time as Infinite Campus registration (unless it is a DMACC course offered at AHS and therefore is part of the AHS course offerings). Registration for single DMACC or ISU courses takes place with a separate process/form in April for the upcoming fall semester. The exception to this is the Career and Technical Offerings (CTE) at Hunziker;  that registration opens up in January for the upcoming year.

Yes, but those courses cannot be counted on an AHS transcript for AHS credit.

Although there are no guarantees, AHS will do their best to ensure that classes for dual-enrolled students are in consecutive order for convenience. However, this is not determined until the summer.

All options taken through DMACC or at DMACC are called concurrent enrollment. These include courses taken at AHS for DMACC credit, Online and On Campus DMACC course options and Career Technical Education Academy courses.

• • For DMACC courses offered at AHS, students register for these in March on Infinite Campus along with any other courses taken on the AHS campus when enrollment for the upcoming school year begins.

• • For CTE Consortium courses at the Hunziker Center (or other centers), registration opens up in January, and is open until the beginning of May, for the upcoming fall semester. Sonia Harold will notify HSAP families once the registration application becomes available.

• • OCCO and OLCA course registration is available in mid-April for the upcoming fall semester and is available mid-October for the spring semester.

For CTE, OCCO, and OLCA, a student only needs to complete the DMACC registration form. That form automatically gets sent to either the student’s counselor or Nicole Patton for approval.

CTE students won’t be notified until May if they earned a seat.

Online courses will just count for one of the 6 allowed courses a dual enrolled student may take. With the exception of CTE Career Academy courses, which take up four of the 6 class times, courses generally are counted on a 1 -1 ratio. However, if it takes 2 of the 6 periods to travel for an on campus DMACC or ISU course, then that will count for 2/6 allowed periods.

Yes, however, PSEO coursework is only permitted if the requested course may not be taken through concurrent enrollment.

Review more in the DMACC Senior Year Plus document. 

Keep in mind that the information below for OLCA and OCCO includes all courses offered at DMACC. AHS may not approve a particular course, there may not be a comparable course offered at AHS for it to be approved for concurrent enrollment. However, if a DMACC course is offered on the AHS campus and the student wishes to take it at DMACC, that is permissible if absolutely necessary.

More information:

• DMACC courses offered at AHS
• Contracted concurrent enrollment courses approved by Ames CSD, both OLCA and OCCO.
• Available options through the CTE Career Academy at the Hunziker Center and other DMACC Centers.

Yes, but as with other SYP options, transportation responsibilities will be that of the student/family.

Aleks math* assessment is required for all students enrolling in a DMACC math course.

*Aleks math assessment waiver: If enrolling in a DMACC math course not taught by a DMACC instructor (such as a course taught by an AHS instructor certified to teach a DMACC course), then proof of a grade of B- or greater in the most recent math course taken can be shown in lieu of taking the Aleks placement test.

Textbooks can be picked up, and returned, at the AHS counseling office. If you have not heard from DMACC regarding the details of picking up your books one week prior to the start of class, notify Sonia Harold to let her know.

No, concurrent enrollment is the only SYP option that does not require dual enrollment status. See the Homeschool options in Iowa (PDF) for more information.

• • ENG 150, ENG 250 are not allowed under PSEO since all ISU graduates are required to complete these and they are considered high-demand courses.

• • Apparel,  Merchandise, and  Design (AMD)  courses- not allowed for PSEO

• • ENGR courses – can be registered the week before classes start

• • Math – ALEKS Placement exam required

• • Music lessons – cannot be registered for these courses

• • Music  – can be registered the first week of classes

• • Courses restricted to certain majors, must have department approval

• • World Languages (Spanish, French Chinese, etc) – Placement exam required

Students must meet all prerequisites or corequisites for a course in which they would like to enroll. If a student would like to take an upper division course (300 or 400 level) they must have permission from the PSEO Academic Advisor, Dan Rice, drice@iastate.edu.

The ISU Schedule of Classes is found online. In order for the district to pay for the course, a comparable course cannot be offered at AHS and a student must meet the prerequisites of the course. See the AHS offerings in the current registration book.  Additionally, the requested course must not be available through the contracted concurrent enrollment offerings.

For Fall Semester, registration opens the first week of March. For Spring semester, registration opens late November. It is highly recommended that students submit PSEO forms as soon after registration opens as preference is given based on submission date. Find deadlines and procedures on the ISU PSEO website.

Find information about Post Secondary Enrollment Options on the ISU website. You will complete both the non-degree student application (only for first time applicants) and the PSEO form. Your PSEO form will be sent to Nicole Patton, Associate Principal at AHS. Send the non-degree application, PSEO form with course requests, along with your transcript. Ms. Patton will be responsible for forwarding all necessary paperwork to the ISU PSEO coordinator.

No, not at ISU. ISU distinguishes between freshman and transfer students based on WHEN the college courses were completed, not how many credits were completed.  ISU classifies students as freshmen (for scholarship and orientation purposes) if the student’s college courses were completed during high school or the summer immediately following high school graduation, regardless of how many credits the student has completed. Conversely, ISU classifies students as transfers (for scholarship and orientation purposes) if the student has completed any transferable college courses in the fall or later immediately following high school graduation, regardless of how few credits were completed.*However, this depends on the university and it is important to check with the admissions office of the universities in which your student is interested.

No, the Summer Trial Enrollment Program has been discontinued.

Yes, GPA earned through accredited schools will be considered when evaluating eligibility towards admission and towards scholarships. If a student does not have a total of 5 Carnegie units at an accredited school, 12 college credits, or a combination of the two, for an established GPA, or test scores,  then they are evaluated holistically.

Two Merit-based scholarship awards may be automatically awarded to students once offered admission:

Loyal Award-32 ACT/1450 SAT and 3.8GPA- Amount: $12,000

Forever Award- 28 ACT/1300 SAT and 3.6 GPA- amount: $8,000

In order for a homeschool student’s GPA to be computed, the student needs to have completed the equivalent of 12 college credits or 5 Carnegie units at a high school or a combination of the two. For example, if a student has 6 college credits (half of the college credit requirement), then s/he would need 2.5 Carnegie credits (half of the Carnegie credit requirement). A Carnegie credit is defined as a full-year course at a high school. This is ONLY to compute a GPA that ISU will consider for merit-based scholarships. Additionally, ACT/SAT scores are considered for merit-based awards. If a student doesn’t have the credits mentioned above, then their ACT/SAT score will be used to determine eligibility for scholarships/awards.

• • It is best if these credits are taken by the end of junior year so that students could be considered for merit scholarships because application to college can take place as early as the summer following their junior year of high school. All other scholarships at ISU are accessed through OneApp.

ISU admission prefers a combined transcript with classes taken elsewhere noted in a key on the same homeschool transcript. If a homeschool parent issues grades include them on the transcript, otherwise it is fine if no grade is included. Of course, you’ll need to submit an official transcript from other schools where coursework was completed. The homeschool transcript can simply include the course title, the grade awarded (if applicable), and some kind of notation (like an asterisk and a footnote below) if the course was taken somewhere other than home. Course descriptions or a list of books is not necessary.  If it is determined more information is needed regarding a specific course, ISU admissions will contact the student.

When creating the student’s home school transcript, the important point is to be consistent.  If you show 0.5 credit for a one-semester home school course, you should also show 0.5 credit for a one-semester DMACC course.  On the other hand, if you choose to show 1 credit for a one-semester home school course (as AHS counts credits), then you should also show 1 credit for a one-semester DMACC course.

A lack of foreign language credits will not prevent a student from being offered admission at ISU, assuming the student meets all of the other high school course requirements for admission. However, if a college at ISU requires a foreign language for graduation, such as the College of Engineering and College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (requires 2 years of a single foreign language to obtain a degree), then it might be good to meet this requirement while in high school. Many colleges require 2-3 years of a foreign language for admission. Always check with the schools you are considering.

Students can utilize a program called Transit to view courses that transfer to ISU from community colleges or other universities.

Only those courses which have been completed at Iowa State are factored into the student’s Iowa State GPA.  With that said, Iowa State requires students who have attempted college coursework through another college or university to have earned at least a 2.25 transfer GPA, even if the student meets Iowa State’s freshman admission requirements.

Once the PSEO form gets submitted to Nicole Patton, who in turn submits it to the ISU PSEO advisor, the advisor will send an email to the student with ALEKS placement information.

The PSAT is available to take at AHS for all 9th-12th grade college-bound students, whether they are dual-enrolled or not. The NMSQT is the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test given to juniors and is administered at the same time as the PSAT.

The PSAT/NMSQT is administered each October at AHS and the cost is communicated directly from AHS.

The SAT is administered approximately eight times/year. Check the SAT website for registration information and practice tests.

The ACT is offered about 7 times a year from September through July. Find more information about ACT testing online.

Students can take the SAT as many times as they want. We recommend that they take it at least twice—in the spring of their junior year and the fall of their senior year. Most students get a higher score the second time, and most colleges consider a student’s highest SAT score when making admission decisions.

The ACT can be taken up to 12 times, and many students end up taking the test between 2-3 times before applying to college. Most colleges are neutral about multiple scores.

The SAT and the ACT are the two tests that are commonly used in the application process to colleges and universities. Counselors urge prospective college-bound students to take either the ACT/SAT at the end of the second semester of the junior year.

Estimated costs for the SAT are $46.00 or $60.00 with the essay. Optional SAT subject tests are $21.00-$26.00.

Estimated costs for the ACT are $46.00 or $62.50 plus writing test.

Fee waivers are available in AHS Student Services for students who qualify.

Standard prep booklets are available in AHS Student Services. AHS offers an ACT/SAT prep class after school hours – one in the fall and one in the spring.

Additionally, Khan Academy provides a wonderful SAT Practice Site. Once a student takes the PSAT, he/she can link their PSAT results to their Khan Academy account for tailor-made practice based on what he/she missed on the PSAT as a way to prepare for the SAT.

Lastly, check out the SAT practice from the SAT website and ACT practice from the ACT website.

College Level Examination Program (CLEP) is a College Board program that allows students to take exams for college credit while in high school or after high school. Exams are completely multiple-choice, unlike the AP exams.

If your student is considering taking a CLEP exam, take a look at Modern States. It is an organization that provides the study materials and pays for the testing materials necessary to take the CLEP exams.

Check with universities your student may plan to attend to see what CLEP exams are accepted there.

Accepted CLEP exams at ISU

Accepted CLEP exams at DMACC

Naviance Student is a curriculum designed to help 8th-12th grade students develop college knowledge and non-cognitive skills required to succeed in a post-secondary environment. It provides students with a variety of features, including college research and matching tools, course planning, career assessment, and personality tests, and surveys to help students connect what they are doing in school to what they would like to do once they complete their education. Additionally, Naviance’s integration with “The Common Application” facilitates the submission of college applications, as well as online submission of transcripts, school forms and recommendations through Naviance eDocs.

No. All HSAP students, regardless of their enrollment status, now have access to Naviance Student.

Your student should have received an email to their school email from Naviance with a temporary password that needs to be reset within 45 days of receiving the email. Contact Julie Bryant if you need access or have questions.

Yes. Contact the 8th-grade counselor at AMS to learn how to get started with Naviance if your student is homeschooled. Students start with a four-year plan, Career Cluster Finder, and Career Inventory. Each year, more components of Naviance are introduced to students.

No. Ames CSD does not provide this to parents

All students have the same access to the scholarships listed on Naviance.