Early College Program for High School Students

Get a head start on reaching your college goals by taking classes at HCCC at reduced tuition.

An Opportunity for All Hudson County High School Students to Earn College Credits

Are you a high school student who attends school or lives in Hudson County? Then you have the opportunity to take up to 18 college-level credits per academic year and earn credits towards a degree that can help you get a head start on your associate degree or explore transferring them to other colleges to lessen the time and cost it will take to reach your academic goals.

HCCC has a number of partnerships with local high schools that may allow qualifying students to earn credits, a certificate or even a full Associate Degree upon high school graduation. View the list of participating high schools and programs here. If you attend one of these high schools and are interested in participating in their program, you may contact your school counselor or the Early College program for more information. However, all high school students who attend school or live in Hudson County are eligible to participate in the Early College Program and pay only 50% of the in-county tuition rate. The Early College team is ready and eager to help you start your college journey.

 

Ready to Get Started?

In just a few quick steps, you can be on your way to earning college credits.

Head to the application.

Make sure to use a personal email address that is not your school email address, as school emails may block communications from HCCC. Please also make sure that this is the student’s e-mail address and not the e-mail address of a parent/guardian.

Also, the application MUST be completed and submitted by the student. It cannot be completed and submitted by a parent/guardian/school representative. Any applications completed by someone other than the student will be rejected and a new application will need to be submitted.

  • Create an account.
  • Under School Attended, scroll to select your high school.
  • Please enter the year you will graduate high school in Graduated/Attended to Year.
  • Anticipated Entry Term is the first term you will take classes as an Early College student.
  • Make sure you write down the e-mail address and password you use to create this account!
  • Once your account is created, complete the steps to submit the application.
  • On the application page, if your high school does not pre-populate, enter the high school name and select “New Jersey” in the “State” field, click Search, and then select your high school below.
  • Again, enter the year you started high school and then the year you expect to graduate high school in the appropriate fields.
  • Complete all other fields and submit application.
  • Within 2 business days (or sooner) your HCCC user name and student ID number will be sent to the e-mail you used to create your account. PLEASE SAVE THAT E-MAIL!

The second step is to complete the Student Agreement form.

You will need the signature of your parent/guardian and, if applying as a participant in a partner program, the signature of your high school counselor. Once it is complete, Hudson County Schools of Technology students should e-mail a copy to secaucuscenterFREEHUDSONCOUNTYCOMMUNITYCOLLEGE. All other students should e-mail a copy to earlycollegeFREEHUDSONCOUNTYCOMMUNITYCOLLEGE.

Once you submit the Student Agreement Form, an Academic Counselor will reach out to you to discuss the next steps. This may include taking a placement exam and will eventually lead to you registering for your first classes!

If you’d like to find out more information while you wait, you can learn more about the placement test process here: Testing Services or you can complete the Directed Self Placement process to determine your placement:

You can also take a look at the many classes we offer in the course schedule. Just remember that what classes you can take right away will depend on your initial placement, and some classes might have additional pre-requisites.

Horizontal image of 13 people that includes 12 high school seniors from Bayonne High School who earned an Associate Degree through the Early College Program and their Academic Counselor, Joycelyn Wong Castellano.

Twelve high school seniors from Bayonne High School who earned an Associate Degree through the Early College Program and their Academic Counselor, Joycelyn Wong Castellano.


Out of the Box Podcast - Early College Program

September 2019
The HCCC Early College Program saves time... save money!
In this episode of “Out of the Box,” Dr. Reber talks with HCCC Vice President of Academic Affairs Christopher Wahl and HCCC 2019 Graduate Ianna Santos about the Early College Program and all it’s benefits.

Click here


 

Contact Information

For High School Students Attending High Tech or County Prep
Secaucus Center Frank J. Gargiulo Campus of the Hudson County Schools of Technology
One High Tech Way
Secaucus, NJ 07094
Phone: (201) 360-4388
secaucuscenterFREEHUDSONCOUNTYCOMMUNITYCOLLEGE

For all other Hudson County High School Students
Early College
2 Enos Place, Room J104
Jersey City, NJ 07306
Phone: (201) 360-5330
Fax: (201) 360-4308
earlycollegeFREEHUDSONCOUNTYCOMMUNITYCOLLEGE