EIU Dual Credit Program

Information for Parents

Professors at Eastern Illinois University are excited to partner with teachers at your high school to offer courses for both high school and college credit (dual credit). Your student in the dual credit class will have regular live and online interactions with the EIU professor and will be doing the same assignments and taking the same exams as students who are taking the course on EIU’s campus. Your student will receive college credit at half the tuition cost through this special program.

Benefits to Your Student

• Dual credit can help prepare your student for the rigors of college while still in the high school environment.
• Working with EIU faculty can provide students with information about the expectations professors have for college-level work.
• Taking dual credit in high school can accelerate the time to a college degree.
• A recent study (2016) from the American Associate of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) shows that high school dual credit increases the likelihood of students graduating from high school and enrolling in college and indicates that these students accumulate more credits in college in their first two years than students who did not participate in dual credit.

Costs & Payment Options

The cost of EIU dual credit courses is $390 per class.  A deposit of $100 per course is due upon registering.  Some high schools may have grants or resources in which they can pay all or some of the course fee to EIU to help offset the student's cost for the course.  Please ask your high school counselor which courses are available at your high school and what the cost will be for you.  The whole amount of the course can be paid up front, but if not paid in full then the remaining amount owed will be billed to the student's EIU email.  Please direct all payment questions to Linda Coffey at 217-581-3715.

Payments may be made by cash, personal check, money order, or cashier check. The Cashier's Office in Old Main is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. if you want to pay in person, or a personal check, money order, or cashier check may be mailed to the Cashier's Office, Eastern Illinois University, 600 Lincoln Ave., Charleston, IL, 61920. Make checks payable to "Eastern Illinois University". Please include a copy of the bill and the student’s name in the memo section of the check. Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express are accepted for payment via the Web; there is s 2.75% convenience fee for cards.

In order to pay on the Web:

1. Sign in to PAWS from https://www.eiu.edu/pawslogin/ or PAWS can be accessed in the upper right hand corner of this webpage (user-id and password is in the letter that was sent to  the student previously). 
2. Click "make a payment".
3. If you have a balance on your account, you will see the message "your account has the following charges" with a description "general payment" and the total due on your account.
4. Click "general payment", leave the amount as is or change it, add it to your shopping cart and then check out.

Refunds will be given if students withdraw during the add/drop period (the first 2 weeks of the EIU semester). Students withdrawing from the class owe 50% of the class cost if their withdrawal is made by the 20th class day of the fall or spring (4th week of EIU classes). If the class was paid in full at the beginning of the term, a 50% refund will be given. Deadlines are posted on the academic calendar each semester at https://www.eiu.edu/registra/academiccalendars.php.

Enrollment, Grades, and Transferring Credit

Students will be enrolled by the University as guest students for the purpose of high school dual credit. Course credit and grades will be posted to an EIU transcript.

Grades will be A, B, C, D, or F. Speech and English Composition are graded A, B, C, NC (no credit). NC replaces a D or F for this course.

A student may withdraw from a course on or before the 10th class day (first 2 weeks of EIU semester) and not receive a grade. From the 11th day until the Friday of the 11th class week, a student may withdraw with a grade of “W” but will still be obliged to complete paying for the course.

If the high school student decides to pursue a degree at Eastern, they will need to apply as an undergraduate student. The application fee will be waived and we will be excited to have them continue their education with us.

Students wishing to pursue a college degree at another college or university must have their EIU transcript sent to that institution. You may order the EIU transcript via PAWS while you have access to your EIU PAWS or by using Parchment (https://www.parchment.com/u/registration/34277/institution).

The courses EIU is offering are part of General Education within the Illinois Articulation Initiative, and as such, courses are accepted for credit by all IAI participating schools, which includes ALL Illinois public universities and 94 other Illinois colleges and universities. An estimated 86% of colleges and universities accept dual enrollment credit to be applied toward degree requirements or elective credit, according to the AACRAO study; the 14% that do not accept dual credit tend to be elite, private schools. While EIU cannot guarantee course recognition on behalf of another institution, we strive to make the transfer of courses as simple as possible. Acceptance of dual enrollment credit is up to each college or university. It is the student’s