Admission & Placement Criteria

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Criteria for Participation in Dual Enrollment

Private, public, and homeschool juniors and seniors must meet each of the following criteria to register in college-level, credit-bearing courses:

  1. The student submits a NOVA Application for Admission.
  2. The student has obtained the appropriate permission(s):
    • A high school student has received permission from the principal/principal’s designee and a parent/guardian
    • A homeschooled student has received permission from a parent/guardian
  3. The student demonstrates readiness for each college-level credit-bearing course in which they want to enroll. High school and homeschool students are not eligible to enroll in developmental or direct placement co-requisite English and Math courses.  In demonstrating readiness, a student must meet one of the criteria established for each type of course in which they want to be registered: 

Course Type High School Transcript* or SAT or PSAT or ACT or VPT
Transfer** Courses (Except Math) Current cumulative high school GPA of 3.0 or higher or ERW score of 480 or higher or ERW score of 390 or higher or 18 or higher on both English and Reading or Placement into ENG 111
Career & Technical*** Courses (Except Math) Current cumulative high school GPA of 2.0 or higher or ERW score of 480 or higher or ERW score of 390 or higher or 18 or higher on both English and Reading or Placement into ENF 1 or higher
MTH 101-133 Current cumulative high school GPA of 3.0 or higher and a 2.0 (C) grade or higher in a high school math course or ERW score of 480 or higher and math score of 530 or higher or ERW score of 390 or higher and math score of 500 or higher or 18 or higher on both English and Reading and 22 or higher on math subject area test or Placement in MTH 111 or higher (satisfaction of MTE 1-3)
MTH 154, 155 Current cumulative high school GPA of 3.0 or higher and a 2.0 (C) grade or higher in a high school math course or ERW score of 480 or higher and math score of 530 or higher or ERW score of 390 or higher and math score of 500 or higher or 18 or higher on both English and Reading and 22 or higher on math subject area test or Placement in MTH 154 or higher (satisfaction of MTE 1-5)
MTH 161, 167 Current cumulative high school GPA of 3.0 or higher and a 2.0 (C) grade or higher in Algebra 2 or a higher level math course or ERW score of 480 or higher and math score of 530 or higher or N/A or 18 or higher on both English and Reading and 22 or higher on math subject area test or Placement in MTH 161 or higher (satisfaction of MTE 1-9)

*Cumulative GPA may be weighted or unweighted

**A transfer course is any course designed to fulfill requirements for a degree or certificate designed to transfer (e.g., AA, AS, AA&AS, AFA, Uniform Certificate of General Studies).

***A career and technical course is any course designed to fulfill requirements for degrees and certificates not designed for transfer (e.g., AAS, Certificate, Career Studies Certificates).


Dual enrollment is restricted to rising high school juniors and seniors and homeschool students at the equivalent level.Admitting high school or homeschool students below the junior or senior level is considered exceptional; the college-ready status of any student below the junior or senior level shall be assessed by the college president, or designee, on a case-by-case basis Per the VCCS, colleges shall have criteria and procedures for the case-by-case assessment of such students that are to be met in addition to the above eligibility criteria.