College Credit Courses
Statewide and Local Articulated Courses
There are different ways students can earn college credits while in high school. The Career and Technology Education (CTE) department provides one of these ways by offering courses that not only meet high school graduation requirements, but can also be used as college credits in community colleges across the state of Texas.
Pearland ISD's Tech-Prep program is a way for students to start a college technical major in high school. In this program, the student begins his/her course of study in high school and continues it in a community or technical college. The result is a certificate or an Associate's degree in a career field. Depending on the program area and school of choice, the student will then have the option to continue his/her education in a major university to complete a Bachelor's degree in a related field of study. The Tech-Prep program is based on a 6 year plan of study that begins in high school and continues on to a community college. The plans combine the academic courses needed for success in high school AND technical courses that begin to prepare the students for a career. These Tech-Prep plans can include:
-
Content-enhanced articulated courses (statewide articulation (ATC) and/or local articulation (Tech-Prep);
-
Dual credit (course enrollment through a local college); and/or
-
College Board Advanced Placement (AP) courses
Many of Pearland ISD's Career and Technology (CTE) courses are "articulated" courses, which means that they are aligned with the curriculum of community and technical college courses locally or throughout the state of Texas. When a student takes one of these courses in their Junior or Senior year, they can get college credit as well as high school credit. In addition, all of these college credit courses count as a measure towards graduating under the Distinguished Achievement Plan (DAP).
When a course is referred to as an Advanced Technical Credit (ATC) course, this means that it has been articulated and approved for credit in all community colleges throughout the state of Texas. When a course is referred to as Tech-Prep, this means that it has been articulated and approved for credit with select local community college(s). The Tech-Prep courses are contained in one or more of the 6 year plans of study (Tech-Prep Plans) that start in high school and lead to an Associate's degree from a local college. ***Some courses are both ATC and Tech-Prep. These are indicated next to the course names in this booklet***
For more information on these programs, contact your school counselor or the Career and Technology Education office at 281.485.3203.
Useful websites: