On this page
CCAP is a College and Career Access Pathways agreement between a school district and a community college district, approved by both governing boards at an open public meeting and filed with the Chancellor's Office before the partnership starts. Under one, a student in grades 9 through 12 takes designated college courses, usually at the high school, with enrollment fees exempted by statute. A CCAP student may take up to 15 units and no more than four community college courses a term. Outside a CCAP agreement, a student enrolls as a special part-time student and the college sets its own terms.
What is the difference between CCAP and special admit enrollment?
A student admitted under Education Code 48800 as a special part-time student picks from the college’s regular schedule, courses that have to be open to the general public, and the college decides what to charge. Families call that route special admit.
Education Code 76004 added CCAP in 2015. The district and the college sign an agreement naming the courses, the campuses, and the number of students to be served, and those courses can be limited to students from the partner district. Section 76004 exempts CCAP students from the enrollment fee requirements.
Both routes can run at the same college. Golden West uses Dual Enrollment for its CCAP courses and Concurrent Enrollment for a high schooler taking a regular college class. Before your teen registers, we check which of the two a given section falls under, because at several of these colleges that is the difference between a free course and a bill for fees and books.
What does CCAP cost?
Nothing for the units. The enrollment fee that Education Code 76300 sets at forty-six dollars a unit does not apply to a CCAP student, and the partner district generally supplies the books.
Outside CCAP the answer varies by college. Chaffey’s flexible track, open to any California high school student, has students paying service fees and textbooks, while its partnership track covers tuition, fees, and textbook rentals.
How many units can your teen take?
Education Code 76004 lets a CCAP student enroll in up to 15 units a term, provided the units are no more than four community college courses and are part of the CCAP agreement. That statewide ceiling sits well above what most high schoolers take.
Colleges apply lower limits outside a CCAP agreement. Irvine Valley allows 11 units a term for its general dual enrollment students against 15 for CCAP students, and Chaffey caps its high school students at 11 units, with an appeal and full tuition required past 12.
How do you find out whether your district has a CCAP agreement?
The statute leaves a paper trail. A CCAP agreement has to be presented, opened to public comment, and approved or disapproved at an open public meeting of each partner’s governing board, and a copy filed with the Chancellor’s Office of the California Community Colleges and with the Department of Education before the partnership begins. The agreement is therefore a dated board item, and board agendas and minutes are public.
Asking the college is faster. Each college below names the districts it partners with, and its dual enrollment office can tell you whether your teen’s high school is covered and which courses the agreement names this year.
What does each college call its program?
Program names differ more than the underlying law does, so the name on the flyer is often the quickest clue to which route a course belongs to.
De Anza College
De Anza runs CCAP with the Fremont Union High School District and Palo Alto Unified. De Anza faculty teach the classes, mostly at the high schools or online, and the college says participating students take them tuition-free with required textbooks and materials loaned at no charge. The entry point is the CCAP Permission Form, which takes seven to ten business days to process. Students in other districts use De Anza’s general Dual Enrollment program.
Mt. San Antonio College
Mt. SAC calls its program Dual Enrollment and offers it as college-level courses at a partnering high school campus. The sequence is a CCCApply application, claiming the Mt. SAC account, a parent or guardian consent form, student email, an assessment questionnaire where required, an orientation, and registration. Mt. SAC states that grades for those courses become part of the student’s permanent college record.
Bakersfield College
Bakersfield College files everything under Early College and splits it in two. Dual enrollment is a course at the high school site, mostly filled with high school students. Concurrent enrollment is a Bakersfield College course on a campus or online, mostly filled with students who are not in high school. After the college application, enrollment runs through DualEnroll.com, where the parent consents by email or text and the high school approves.
Chaffey College
Chaffey runs two tracks under AB 288, both open to incoming ninth through twelfth graders. High School Partnership serves students from specific partner districts and covers tuition, fees, and textbook rentals. High School Partnership FLEX is open to high school students anywhere in California, and students in it pay service fees and textbooks. Both cap enrollment at 11 units for fall, spring, and summer.
El Camino College
El Camino admits qualified ninth through twelfth graders and offers dual enrollment at more than twenty local high school campuses, alongside a track for a high schooler taking a regular El Camino class. Enrollment fees are waived. The steps run through the college application, the MyECC portal, and DualEnroll, where the student, the parent, and the high school each have a part.
Irvine Valley College
Irvine Valley describes CCAP as a special part-time program for students in grades 9 through 12 taking designated courses under an agreement with specific secondary schools. Enrollment fees and the health fee are waived, and textbooks come from the district. CCAP students may take up to 15 units and four courses a semester, against 11 units for the college’s other dual enrollment students.
Moorpark College
Moorpark offers the High School Partnership Pathway and the Academic Enrichment Pathway. The partnership pathway covers students taking a Moorpark course through an exclusive partnership with their high school, and Moorpark says those students have all fees and course materials waived. Applications go through CCCApply, then a MyVCCCD account and a dual enrollment e-form with counselor and parent signatures.
Golden West College
Golden West reserves the name Dual Enrollment for courses under a CCAP agreement between the Coast Community College District and a partner district such as Huntington Beach Union, and says those courses are free, with fees waived and textbooks paid by the high school district. Concurrent Enrollment is the other track, where fees are waived but college-related fees apply and the student buys books.
Mission College
Mission College in Santa Clara waives enrollment fees for high school students and has families pay only for textbooks and materials, with many courses carrying none. Students below ninth grade can be considered with approval. The process is an OpenCCC application, a placement assessment, the Dual Enrollment Form with parent and counselor signatures, and registration through the My Mission portal.
Does the credit transfer to a UC or a CSU?
The University of California treats dual enrollment coursework as the college work it is. UC requires A-G-appropriate dual enrollment courses to be reported under the college’s name on the UC application rather than as high school coursework, counts the credits toward the cumulative units for degree completion, and gives an extra point in the first-year admission GPA calculation for a UC-transferable A-G course taken between the summer after ninth grade and the summer after eleventh with a grade of C or better.
For a specific course at a specific campus, the California state page covers how to read ASSIST before the course is chosen.
FAQ
What does CCAP stand for? College and Career Access Pathways, the partnership created by Education Code 76004 that lets a school district and a community college district offer designated college courses to high school students, usually at the high school.
Is CCAP dual enrollment free? The units are. Education Code 76004 exempts CCAP students from the enrollment fee that Education Code 76300 sets at forty-six dollars a unit, and partner districts generally supply textbooks. Transportation to an on-campus section is still the family’s cost.
How many units can a CCAP student take? Up to 15 units a term, and no more than four community college courses, under Education Code 76004. Colleges often apply a lower limit to high school students who are not in a CCAP agreement, such as the 11 units used at Irvine Valley and Chaffey.
How do you know if your district has a CCAP agreement? Each agreement is approved at an open public meeting of both governing boards and filed with the Chancellor’s Office before the partnership starts, so it appears in board agendas. The college’s dual enrollment office can also tell you which districts and courses are covered.
What is the difference between CCAP and special admit dual enrollment? A special part-time student under Education Code 48800 takes courses from the regular schedule that are open to the public, and the college sets the terms. A CCAP student takes courses named in a district agreement, which can be limited to that district’s students, with enrollment fees exempted.
Sources
- California Education Code section 76004 · the CCAP agreement, the open public meeting, the Chancellor’s Office filing, the 15-unit and four-course limit, and the fee exemption
- California Education Code section 76300 · the forty-six dollar per unit enrollment fee
- University of California, Dual enrollment guidance · reporting rules, units toward degree completion, and the honors point
- De Anza College, College and Career Access Pathways · partner districts, free tuition and materials, and the CCAP Permission Form
- Mt. San Antonio College, Dual Enrollment · the application sequence and the permanent college record
- Bakersfield College, How to enroll in Dual Enrollment and Early College · the DualEnroll.com steps
- Bakersfield College, Early College · dual enrollment compared with concurrent enrollment
- Chaffey College, Dual Enrollment program overview · HSP and HSPFLEX costs and the 11-unit limit
- El Camino College, Dual Enrollment for high school students · grade eligibility, the fee waiver, and the enrollment steps
- Irvine Valley College, College and Career Access Pathway · the 15-unit CCAP limit against 11 units otherwise, and the fee waivers
- Moorpark College, High School Partnership Pathway · waived fees and course materials, and the enrollment steps
- Golden West College, Dual and Concurrent Enrollment · the CCAP partnership, the cost difference between the two tracks, and the forms
- Mission College, Dual Enrollment · waived enrollment fees, textbook costs, and the application steps
Get the next guide
One question per guide, answered in the first paragraph. One email each time a new one goes up.
A short welcome series first, then one email each time a new guide goes up. You can unsubscribe at any time.