Parents often wonder what the different high school course categories are and how to properly document them on the high school transcript. In this post, I’ll explain each type, how to report it, and what to do about the GPA weight.
When your high school student takes a…
Remedial High School Course
A course that is designed to help a student catch up, review, or revisit a subject. These are also called “developmental” courses.
- Award regular grades (A, B, C, D, F) plus or minus optional
- Award a regular number of credits (0, 0.5, 1.0)
- Use a regular GPA weight (4.0 scale)
- Note: these courses are not worth “less” than a regular high school class.
- Weighted or unweighted: both are 4.0 on 4.0 scale.
Regular High School Course
A course that is on-grade level or typical for an “average” student. An example would be “9th grade Language Arts” taught to a 9th-grade student.
- Award regular grades (A, B, C, D, F) plus or minus optional
- Award a regular number of credits (0, 0.5, 1.0)
- Weighted or unweighted: both are 4.0 on 4.0 scale
Honors High School Course
A course carrying an “honors” distinction is often the same curriculum as regular classes but with additional topics or some topics in greater depth. Some HS4CC parents like to tag a course “honors” when they have added a CLEP exam to their curriculum or the student spent more than 120 hours in the subject. There is no hard rule for when to award “honors” but it should be more work or time than a regular high school course.
- Be sure to use the tag “Honors” in the course title
- Award regular grades (A, B, C, D, F) plus or minus optional
- Award a regular number of credits (0, 0.5, 1.0)
- Weighted as 4.5 on 4.0 scale
- Unweighted as 4.0 on 4.0 scale.
Advanced Placement AP High School Course
Advanced Placement (AP) is a specific brand name, so can carry the AP brand in the title when you’ve had your homeschool curriculum approved by The College Board (this is not difficult to do). Only approved AP courses can be called AP on your transcript.
- Be sure to use the tag “AP” in the course title
- Award regular grades (A, B, C, D, F) plus or minus optional
- Award a regular number of credits (0, 0.5, 1.0)
- Weighted as 5.0 on a 4.0 scale.
- Unweighted as 4.0 on a 4.0 scale.
Honors High School Course + AP Exam
Courses that prepare for an AP exam but were not officially approved as AP should be recorded as “honors.” AP-style can not be labeled as AP.
- Do not use the label “AP” in the course title
- Award regular grades (A, B, C, D, F) plus or minus optional
- Award a regular number of credits (0, 0.5, 1.0)
- Weighted as 4.5 on a 4.0 scale (only approved AP can award 5.0)
- Unweighted as 4.0 on 4.0 scale.
Developmental College Course
A course that is designed to prepare a student for college-level courses. High school students do not typically have access to developmental college courses, but if yours does, you can award high school credit. Note that these courses may be worth college credit and may be billed at the per-credit tuition rate, but will not count towards a degree.
- Award regular grades (A, B, C, D, F) plus or minus optional
- Award a regular number of credits (0, 0.5, 1.0)
- Note: these courses are not worth “less” than a regular high school class.
- Weighted or unweighted: both are 4.0 on 4.0 scale
Regular College Course
A course that is open to high school students and is worth graded college credit. This course will appear on an official college-issued transcript and later count towards a student’s college credential or degree.
- Award regular grades (A, B, C, D, F)plus or minus optional.
- While not required, it is suggested to record the high school grade to match what the college awarded.
- Use a 3:1 (3 college credits = 1 high school credit).
- 4 college credits can be 1 high school credit or you may award more.
- Weighted as 5.0 on a 4.0 scale.
- Unweighted as 4.0 on a 4.0 scale.
