Lapel High School

AP (Advanced Placement) and Dual Credit Information

Today’s high school students have the opportunity to earn college credit hours in conjunction with their high school level courses.  There are two types of classes in which students can earn college credit hours, AP and dual credit.  At Lapel, we offer a wide variety of courses.  Students can graduate with a portion of their college general education core already done.  This saves money and time once they go to college.

Students will have the option to transfer the credit hours, or not, based on their degree path and the college they attend.  In some cases, it may be best for them to take the course over, such as Calculus for an engineering major.  Regardless, they have nothing to lose by having credit hours completed and available to them.

AP (Advanced Placement)

AP (Advanced Placement) courses are governed by The College Board.  After completing the AP course, students may take the AP exam. The exam scores range from 1 to 5.  The student’s score is used by colleges to determine if the student will receive college credit or the student will be given advanced placement (allow a student to skip an entry level course).  According to the AP website College Board Score about AP Scores, “Many colleges and universities grant credit and placement for scores of 3, 4 or 5; however, each college decides which scores it will accept.” 

Dual Credit

Dual Credit classes are governed by each individual college or university.  We have a relationship with both Ivy Tech and Indiana University, in which our teachers are certified to teach the college-level course in our building.  Students are enrolled as a student at the college, in addition to the high school, earning high school and college credit at the same time.  To earn the college credit, students must earn a “C” or better.  Students will have a college transcript when they graduate from high school.  If the students choose to attend Ivy Tech or IU, the grades will count in their college grade point average.  If they go to a different college, the credit hours will transfer, but not the grade.  Therefore, those grades will not be calculated in their GPA at that college.

There are admission criteria for all AP/dual credit courses.  The criteria, which is based on PSAT scores, GPA, or Accuplacer/Knowledge Assessment scores, vary from course to course.  Students are encouraged to take the course as dual credit if they meet the criteria because you earn credit based on the entire semester of work and not just the score on the AP exam.  Historically at LHS, more students have earned college credits through the dual credit route as compared to the AP route.  However, there are instances where a student would prefer to take the AP course because of the requirements of the college that they would like to attend.

During the scheduling process, students indicate that they want to take the AP or dual credit course.  Their credentials are checked and those who qualify are enrolled into the dual credit course, unless they prefer to enroll as AP.  Those students who do not immediately qualify for dual credit are given the Accuplacer or Knowledge Assessment test, which is administered at LHS.  They may take the Accuplacer test up to three times to score at the required level.  If a student does not score at the required level, they may enroll in the AP course.  Then, as mentioned above, they may take the AP exam at the end of the course in an attempt to receive college credit or advanced placement.    

 If a student wants to get a big jump on their college career, they may want to pursue the College Transfer Core certificate through IVY Tech. This is a certificate that constitutes a 30 credit hour block that state colleges are required to accept as a whole toward the degree. See the attached Indiana College Core Worksheet for more information regarding classes that are offered at Lapel High School.  To learn more about Indiana College Core, please review the material on the IVY Tech website Indiana College Core) or schedule a meeting with our guidance department.