Dual Enrollment in Tennessee for Homeschoolers

This post is of a more practical nature. Despite the plethora of homeschooling support sites, I found myself confused and unsupported when I sought to dual enroll my oldest at a local university. Dual enrollment is a program where high school students, usually juniors and seniors take college course work and get credit for both high school and college at the same time. Ideally, you should begin this process in tenth grade if you want to maximize the dual enrollment courses he/she will take.

So without further ado, here is what you do:

Step 1: Identification

You will need a Photo ID OR a notarized identification form if your child has not yet gotten their Driver's Licence or Permit. FYI: You have to contact your umbrella school to get the proof of attendance to obtain the Driver's Permit as well as study to pass the written test.

Step 2: Testing

Take the ACT. You cannot take the ACT without Photo ID, hence Step 1.
Make sure you list the college you plan to dual enroll at when you register for the ACT. You can choose up to four. This will ensure that your child's score gets sent directly to the college, which is important in the admission process.

Protip: Put your umbrella school's information on a card for your kid to keep in their purse or wallet. They are going to need it when they bubble in their personal info. This would include the school's name, physical address, and all important test number. Check your umbrella school's website to obtain this info. Your kid will need this throughout the rest of high school for the PSAT, more ACT's, Advanced Placement tests, etc.

Protip: Remember you don't have to get the highest score at this stage, just high enough to get through Step 3. Most kids won't have had all the algebra that will be on the ACT. However, check out crackACT for practice tests.

Step 3: Choosing the Right College

Evaluate your choices based on your child's score. Your kid will have to score high enough to meet the minimum standards of admission for the college you plan on dual enrolling at.

Community colleges (Vol State, Motlow State, Pellissippi State, etc.) need a 19. They will sometimes consider a 19 in the sub score area good enough.

Cumberland University requires a 21.

Middle Tennessee State requires a 22.

Tennessee Tech requires a 20.

Bryan University only requires a 3.0 GPA, so that may be one way to circumvent the ACT step.

Check out your local college's website for more details.

Some offer online classes, which can be a big help when you have transportation limitations.

Step 4: Apply to the College

Apply to the college, which will require you to contact your umbrella school for an official high school transcript. Your child might have to write an essay.

Step 5: Approval from your Umbrella School or LEA

Contact your umbrella school to see what forms they might require for the college course to count towards high school credit to square that end of it away.

Step 6: Hope Scholarship Grant

Apply for the Hope Scholarship Dual Enrollment Grant. Your child can take up to 24 hours in their last two years of high school. The Dual Enrollment Grant pays as follows:

The award amounts at eligible two-year institutions and four-year institutions will be as follows:

• Up to $500 – Course #1
• Up to $500 – Course #2
• Up to $200 – Course #3
• No award – Course #4
• Up to $100 per credit hour – Course #5
• Up to $100 per credit hour – Course #6
• Up to $100 per credit hour – Course #7
• Up to $100 per credit hour – Course #8

It comes out to about $1200/year.  I ended up paying out of pocket around $800/year, with my child taking four courses a year. That averaged out to only $200 per three hour class. When you compare that to what some of these tutorials are charging, it is a steal! But notice that the grant is front loaded so you won't pay much (if any) out of pocket if you just want to try it out and take only one class per semester. Colleges vary in how much they charge for a three hour dual enrollment class, but the one we attended charged $500 per class.

NOTE: They will take the Hope Scholarship money out of your child's freshman year award at college.  "Students who receive the Dual Enrollment Grant amount for more than four (4) dual enrollment courses over the junior and senior years will have the amount reduced from their Tennessee HOPE Scholarship on a dollar for dollar basis."

But in the scheme of things, we found the 23 hours of college credit  she earned before she formally started college to be much more valuable than the measly $1600 bucks. Through scholarships and grants, she still had all her expenses paid. 

FYI: You have to maintain a 2.75 GPA to keep receiving the Hope Grant.

Step 7: Choosing and Registering for Classes

Register for classes. You want to choose classes that are part of the General Education Core that practically every college kid in Tennessee will have to take. Safe bets are Speech/Communication, English, American History, Intro to Art/Music/Drama, Psychology, Sociology, etc.

Note: If your kid scores high enough on the ACT English subtest, the college may take that in lieu of credit. My daughter tested out of Freshman English on account of her high subtest score.

Step 8: Keep up with College Deadlines

Make sure you put it on your calendar to register for the next semester. You will possibly need to submit dual enrollment forms to your umbrella school and get approval. The dates can really sneak up on you, so it's good to go ahead and make a note.

Summary

So to summarize, you need and ACT and high school transcript for college admission, then you need the umbrella school's approval for the courses you've chosen, then you may register those classes, and in the mean time, applied for the Hope Scholarship to defray costs.

It was a great experience for my daughter, who gained tremendous confidence from it. Her professors were encouraging and she knew that she was well-prepared.

I hope this has been helpful to someone out there.

The Third Leg of the Antichrist Stool

First off, it's so nice to see so many people taking advantage of the internet to fact-check government goings on and holding people accountable. It seems that many are already covering the first two legs of the Antichrist System:

Leg 1: The economic "mark of the beast" cashless society culminating in a global currency. This is why the military industrial complex deep-state wishes to have Russia, Syria, North Korea et. al. under its control.

Leg 2: The One World Government that will be united with the cashless society. First, the economies of the previously mentioned rogue states must be rolled up for this piece of machinery to launch into operation.

Now Leg 3 is the one that many aren't paying attention to. It involves the Spirit of Antichrist. Many may ask why people will go along with Legs One and Two, but the answer to that is Leg Three.


Following up my last post about the SBC and George Soros, we can see that there has been a very big shift in power in the evangelical churches over the last twenty years. Now I'm not provincial enough to think that my little subculture reflects on the world at large, viz. people in Timbuktu aren't directly effected by church drama in Tennessee. However, a different spirit has definitely taken over the Bible Belt here in America.

You may not recognize it as the Spirit of Antichrist, but rather as the Spirit of Professionalism. When I became involved in church regularly nearly 20 years ago, classes were put together by a church member passionate about the subject. Sometimes they would use a published resource, but only to supplement their own views. Now this has become completely flip-flopped, beliefs arrived at by individual Bible study are almost non-existent. Now everyone believes what the authority figure tells them via workbook study, webinar, video simulcast, book studies, or the weekly TedTalk, previously known as a sermon. If you disagree with what the "professionals" are saying, try speaking out against it in that environment. Your church "family" will side with "professional" almost every time. The ego investment that people have in these modern study methods is ridiculous.

You see, the Bible teaches that we all have gifts and are part of the same body.   If one part of the body suffers, the rest feels it too. If you have a huge gash in your leg, your brain activates and remembers the first aid protocols, then you other leg hops around looking for a washcloth or something with which your hand will apply pressure to stop the bleeding. All parts of your body, even at the cellular level, work together to maintain a healthy, stable organism.

Now in the early, New Testament church, we see local bodies "rolling with the punches".  There is not the professionalism and specialization we see today. Rather we see those older in the faith mentoring those younger in the faith. Recall how Paul told Steven not to take any flack because of his chronological youth, but that he had been a believer for quite awhile compared to some. "From a child thou hast known the Scriptures".

I'm not prepared to get into the twists and turns of church history that have brought us to this point. But I will say that up until fairly recently, there was a general belief among those in the evangelical church (Note: no one in the evangelical church refers to themselves this way, only focus groups from Yankeeland use the term.), that the congregation was the body, with the preacher being a part of that overall body. It's called the priesthood of believers, none is greater than the other in the eyes of God, or the reality of the Spirit World. All born again believers have an inheritance from God and are co-heirs with Christ. All have gifts and talents that God intends for them to use, but sadly, the rise of professionalism has cut out the lowly pew sitter, or as some in the "biz" refer to them, giving units.

These seminaries are cranking out ministers with student loan debt and an attitude that the world owes them a living. Case in point: a family member had the job of children's director, not minister mind you, because she was female. She worked on putting together all the kids lessons and activities and did it for free around her full-time healthcare job also that required "on call" availability. She was paid the grand total of $0.00 for these services. She did this job because she loved Jesus and the children and wanted them to come to know Him. Fast forward a few years and she is dismissed from this position so they can hire a full-time man and pay him a full-time salary. They are brow-beating the congregation of this for more money to pay for this type of clownery -  a full time salary with was previously handled by a "layperson" in her spare time.

 So one thing I've noticed in recent years is this layperson terminology. Previously it was only associated with mainline churches and the Roman Catholic church which both clearly state where you stand in the pecking order. The born again, evangelical church is supposed to be one body, with everyone edifying everyone else in the body, all priests and co-heirs of Christ. That's why we used to call each other Brother so and so and Sister so and so. We are supposed to be a family. How can you have that relationship when one of you is getting paid? That's like those fraternity kids that pay for their friends. If I have to pay for you to care about me, then I'd rather you not bother.

So the point I'm trying to make is that the Bible Belt of America is on the fast track to every other religion on earth, a hierarchical pyramid power structure where the "enlightened" dole out knowledge (gnosis) to the bottom of the pyramid. This same power structure is found in almost every aspect of society and that is one way the Spirit of Antichrist is at work.

This wicked Spirit forms over time a top-down control structure just to control the top. This is currently happening in evangelical America. The Spirit of Antichrist also controls, as readers of the blog know, the New Age movement,.the Coexist attitude, as well as everywhere we find this pedophilia/Pizzagate business. Recall that Father Malachi Martin wrote about the satanic masses that were taking place in the Vatican. Lord only knows the depths of depravity that are going on in high places.

Much more could be written about the Spirit of Antichrist, but I'll just leave you with this: the Spirit  of Antichrist accuses the brethren, but the Holy Spirit convicts. Which one is in your life?