2023-24 School Year
The Early Entry program is the only way for high school students to access in-person or online classes at Southern Oregon University while still in high school. This is a program for advanced juniors and seniors who meet the eligibilty criteria and are ready for an on-campus experience.
New Students, please refer to the eligibility section below, and contact your high school counselor to take your first steps toward being admitted to the program.
Returning Early Entry students, please refer to your program emails for links and information on registering. As a reminder: Returning Students, please take the time to consider the classes you will take in the upcoming term by looking at the Class Schedule. Your class selection will have to be approved first by your high school counselor as as fitting with your high school schedule, and your academic goals with progression toward high school graduation. Then they will be approved by the Assistant Director of Pre-College Programs kilpatrih@sou.edu.
About
The High School Early Entry program is a program for advanced high school students who meet the eligibility criteria and have time in to maintain their high school grades and schedule while sucessfully taking courses at Southern Oregon University for college credit while progressing toward on-time high school graduation. The program is designed to supplement, not supplant, a high school education for advanced students ready to navigate a college campus environment.
Eligibility
Who is eligible for the Early Entry program?At minimum, Early Entry students must be:
- 16+ years old and an academically advanced Junior or Senior in good standing
- currently enrolled in an Oregon public, private, and accredited charter high school
- have an outstanding academic record that demonstrates prior success in college-level coursework (Advanced Southern Credit, AP, and Honors courses)
- have time in their schedule to attend in-person classes on SOU campus while still fulfilling their high school attendance requirements and progressing toward on-time high school graduation
Students who wish to be considered will meet with their high school counselor to confirm that they are prepared to handle a college course outside of their high school environment. Students should contact their high school counselor expressing interest, detailing academic goals, and sharing why they believe they would be successful in a college environment. Counselors will review attendance and academic records, interview students and confirm that they are academically prepared to handle the rigor of college coursework and are ready to independently navigate a college environment. If the student meets all the criteria, and the counselor agrees the Early Entry program would be beneficial to the student's academic goals, they will then write a recommendation letter to the Assistant Director of Pre-College Programs. By doing so, the counselor is committing to working with the student to discuss and approve their class choices for the duration of their time in the program.
Every potential Early Entry student will need to meet with our Assistant Director, Holly Kilpatrick, for an admittance interview and orientation session with a parent/guardian present.* Email kilpatrih@sou.edu with any questions about this program and eligibility.
Students who are approved for participation in the program must work closely with their high school counselors to make sure high school graduation requirements are being met and that the SOU classes do not conflict with their high school schedule. Southern Oregon University Pre-College Programs staff provide support in registration, academic advisement and approval, billing, and referral to appropriate resources for participating students.
*Children and dependants of SOU staff and faculty wishing to participate in the EE program must also meet all the eligibility criteria, and agree to adhere to the program guidelines/limitations that apply to all EE students.
The Program
How does the program work?Students who are approved for participation in the program must work closely with their high school counselors to make sure graduation requirements are being met, that the SOU classes do not conflict with their high school schedule or success, and that they understand how these credits may benefit them in the future.
SOU allows Early Entry students to enroll in and attend approved courses, while still working toward completing high school graduation requirements at their local school. Continued participation in the program is probationary. Early Entry students can be approved to register for courses designated as "online" or "hybrid" after they have successfully attended in-person classes during their first term in the program.
The Early Entry Program offers a savings off of normal tuition prices. Approved students can register for 100 and 200 level courses at a current rate of 50% off the regular SOU price per credit.
Registration
To get started in the Early Entry program, please refer to the eligibility portion of this page.
For fall, winter and spring terms, students continuing participation in the program seek advice and information from their high school counselors about selecting courses. Once those courses have been identified as working for both the students schedule, academic level, and academic goals, the student will contact the Assistant Director of Pre-College programs to approve the selected courses for registration. The SOU schedule of classes can be found on the inside.sou.edu website under Class Schedule. Registration is only conducted through the Early Entry registration online portal, the link to which will be shared with students when their class selections have been approved. All university process for Early Entry students flow only through the Pre-College office who serves as the connection to campus entities and resources for EE students.
Tuition & Billing
Tuition costs for the Early EntryProgram is 50% discount off the tuition rate paid by regularly admitted SOU students. Early Entry Students are responsible for additional course fees for specific classes (e.g. online delivery, lab or materials fees, books, etc.); refer to the SOU Class Schedule for these fees.All students, regardless of when they register, are responsible for paying their tuition by the first Friday of each term. Late fees, revolving charge fee, and interest will be assessed on any account balances existing after the deadline published in the SOU schedule of classes. Students should check the listing of dates in the SOU schedule of classes. These dates can now be accessed via the academic calendar.
Demographic Data Collection: State law requires that SOU provide students the OPTIONAL opportunity to disclose gender identity and sexual orientation information. We are also collecting data on first generation status, ethnicity, and race for institutional research and statistical purposes. All demographic questions have "prefer not to answer" as an option, and responses we receive from you will be kept completely confidential and subject to FERPA laws.
Important Note about Student Privacy: Once a student registers for credit at Southern Oregon University, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) provides that student with certain rights with respect to the privacy of their records, regardless of the age of the student. SOU employees are bound to honor those rights and cannot provide unauthorized persons (including a parent) access to the student’s record such as grades, transcripts, number of credits, classes taken, charges billed, or payments made, unless the student completes and submits a FERPA Release Form to us. Therefore, to keep paperwork and parental frustration to a minimum, we request that all Early Entry students take full ownership of their status as non-degree-seeking SOU Students, and be prepared to conduct all "business" including ordering transcripts, adding or dropping courses by the deadlines, and contacting Pre-College Programs directly with any questions or requests for assistance. Parents are welcome to contact our office if a signed FERPA release form is on file, and if the request is for information only. If the request involves a requested action, then the request must come directly from the Early Entry student if at all possible. All university processes for Early Entry students flow through the Pre-College Programs office only, and not the other campus offices/resources for fully enrolled students.
