AP & College Credit
Advanced Placement
Advanced Placement (or AP) courses at Jefferson High School provide students a challenging, college-level educational experience, while still receiving the support of our excellent faculty. AP courses expose our students to new experiences and subjects that they might not otherwise encounter in their other classes.
In addition, students have the opportunity to possibly earn college credit (this can vary by college/university, so make sure to ask your counselor or teacher!) by successfully taking the national exams at the end of each course. Because AP courses are more rigorous than other courses, grades are weighted out of a 5.0 instead of the usual 4.0 grading scale.
We believe that students wanting to challenge themselves should consider enrolling in an AP course. Take a look at the Program of Studies and don’t be afraid to ask your teacher!
College Credit
Earning College Credit in High School
Cedar Rapids Community School District (CRCSD) high school students have many opportunities to earn college credit while in high school, through Kirkwood Career Academies, dual credit courses in their high school or by enrolling part-time at Kirkwood in college-level courses.
Dual credit
High school students are eligible to enroll in college-level courses through Kirkwood’s dual credit program. Credit earned through this program counts towards your high school diploma and future college degree. This program is free for high school students and most courses can be taken at students’ high school or at Kirkwood’s Main Campus or even online. Certain college credit in high school programs have different qualifications that must be met – such as age, prerequisite courses and minimum performance measures on placement testing. To find out more, students should meet with their high school counselor to explore options. Learn more about earning dual credit.
Kirkwood Career Academies
One of the most popular ways students can earn free college credit is through the Career Academy programs. In Cedar Rapids, we’re fortunate to offer these options at the Linn Regional Center in Hiawatha, just a short commute from either of the comprehensive high schools. This program is geared toward juniors and seniors and is a packaged sequence of courses focused around specific careers or areas of interest.
- Programs include:
- Advanced Manufacturing and Welding
- Allied Health
- Application Software and Development
- Architecture, Construction and Engineering (ACE)
- Arts & Sciences
- Automotive Technology
- Business
- Criminal Justice and Human Services (Social Work)
- Dental
- Digital/Visual Arts, Social Media Marketing
- Education
- Patient Care Exploration
- Pre-Med, Nursing and Professional Health Careers
- Pre-Nursing with Nurse Aid Certification