Rapid Growth in Early Online College Enrollment

This spring, 788 juniors and seniors from Arlington, Fairfax and Prince William County public schools enrolled in over 1,200 courses through NOVA’s Early Online College program!  This is a nearly 500% increase from fall 2021 Early Online College (EOC) enrollments, thanks to continued support from faculty, NOVA Online and the Office of Dual Enrollment. 

Early Online College offers students a way to begin or continue their college careers by taking classes through NOVA Online that are tuition-free. EOC began with a pilot program in partnership with Fairfax County in fall 2020, with just a handful of students participating. Prince William County Schools and Arlington Public Schools partnered with us in fall 2021 and Loudoun County Public Schools will begin participating in fall 2022. Participating counties subsidize up to two courses per upper-class student per semester.

This spring, more than 780 high school juniors and seniors are participating from 42 high schools in Arlington, Fairfax and Prince William, with the average EOC student taking 1.5 courses. These courses are taken on top of a student’s high school course load and are taken for college credit only.

EOC course offerings are selected to complement dual enrollment courses offered at high schools and to facilitate progress toward completion of the Passport and Uniform Certificate of General Studies. Students must meet the same eligibility requirements as all dual enrollment students. EOC courses are offered through NOVA Online and begin on February 1. These courses become part of each student’s NOVA transcript, and are widely transferable. The most popular courses this spring were CST 110, PSY 200, and SOC 200, but also included ENG 111, HIS 111, ECO 201, ECO 202, ITE 115, MTH 154, MUS 121, BUS 100 and SDV 100. 

Many thanks to NOVA Online for their continuing support of the EOC program, and to our dedicated Dual Enrollment staffers who went above and beyond to recruit and enroll these students!

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Submitted by:
David Hull, Assoc. Director of Dual Enrollment, DHull@nvcc.edu