HOW DOES COLLEGE WORK?

Hours: Students in college take classes by the hour. A typical college class is three hours, which means the class meets only 3 hours a week for fi fteen weeks. For example, at HCC, classes meet for 1 ½ hours two days a week or for 3 hours on Saturday. At the University of Houston Main Campus, class will either meet for 1 ½ hours a session or for 1 hour 3 days a week.

Class: Classes at a college are either three or four digits long. The fi rst digit refers to what year the class is. A 1000 means it is a freshman class. The second digit refers to how many hours the class is. A 1300 class meets three hours a week. The last two digits refer to the level of the class.

Load: This word refers to how many classes you take. A full load to receive fi nancial aid is 9 hours or 3 classes. You will need to take though an average of 30 to 35 hours a year in order to graduate in four years.

Apply: This refers to when you fi ll out an application for a college. All community Colleges and those universities that are open admissions automatically accept you. Universities that have selective admission will send you an acceptance letter.

THEA: Texas Higher Education Assessment Test which includes math, reading, and writing. If you fail one section you must take developmental classes for one or two semesters in that area. At HCC they start with (0). For example, at HCC if you fail the writing section you will start with either 0300 or 0310. After you fi nish 0310, you will take 1301 Composition. You DO NOT accrue any credits for attending a developmental class but you must take those to be able to advance to college level courses.

Register: This is when you sign up for your classes. You do this now online after you have taken your THEA test and seen a counselor for a degree plan.

Degree Plan: This is a document that a college counselor gives to you that tells you what classes you will need in order to get your degree.

Open Universities and colleges (2 year schools) that do not require a certain Admission: SAT or GPA score.

Selective Schools that require a certain SAT or GPA.

Admission:

Transfer: Universities always have a transfer option. This means that you can transfer from a community

college if you have met the GPA requirement for transferring. Each university has their own GPA

requirement for this.

Texas Residency: (This is not the same as being a Permanent Resident of the United States)

Why do you want to be a Texas Resident?

1

^st

: Public universities have two tuition rates. One rate is for student who are Texas residents.

The other rate is for students who are either classifi ed as “out-of-state” or international students.

University of 3 hours (Texas Resident) 357.00

Houston 3 hours (Out-of-State) 1065.00

Houston 3 hours (In-District) 147.00*

Community 3 hours (Out-of-District) 309.00

College 3 hours (Out of State) 387.00

*Community Colleges have a taxing district just like public schools. If you live in a community college’s taxing district, then you pay half as much tuition as a student who lives and goes to school outside that district.

2

^nd

: Texas Residents are eligible for the below state aid for college:

- Texas Grant (Over 1,200 for community colleges & over 4,000 at universities).

- Texas B Loan (graduate 4 years/ 3.00 GPA loan is forgiven)!

- TPEG Grant (Need based/ 200 to 600 a semester) Who is a Texas Resident?

There are three ways to be a Texas resident in Texas. Remember that each state has its own rules for being a resident of that state.

#1: If you are under 25 and are either - a U.S. citizen,

- Permanent Resident (green card holder), - refugee,

- TPS holder,

- immigrant with a work authorization card,

- hod a visa that allows for domicile (long term stays in U.S.)

- or have a process with immigration which has been already approved (someone has petitioned you)

you can be a Texas resident if your parent or legal guardian has lived in Texas for

a year and claimed you on his/her income tax.

#2 If you meet one of the criteria’s, you can base your residency on yourself:

- over 25

- married and can show you support yourself/ not living with your or spouse’s parents.

- have a child, which you support more than half of in1come it requires to raise a child.

- live apart from your parents/ you will often need to provide lease with your name, bills you pay, and an income tax that shows enough income on your part to be truly independent/ 3 letters stating you are independent (counselor, relative, and other).

#3: In 2001, the Texas State Legislature passed a new law (HB 1403) that allows students without a legal process with immigration the opportunity to become Texas residents for tuition purposes. The law was modifi ed in 2005 with the passage of SB 1528. Below are the requirements for the law:

- Graduate from public or private high school or receive GED

- Lived in Texas three years before graduating from high school/ GED,

- Sign an affi davit of intent stating you will become a U.S. permanent resident as soon as you are able to do so.

Students who are citizens or documented can still take advantage of the law. For example a student who is in the United States on a tourist visa does not qualify for #1, but would qualify for #3 if she or he has lived here for three years, graduates, and has lived with a parent for some time. See Coordinating Board memo for details.

Types of Degrees:

Certifi cation:

- employment based/ go straight to work in a specifi c fi eld - one to two years (15 to 30 hours)

- no THEA requirement

Associates of Applied Science:

- employment based/ go straight to work in a specifi c fi eld - two to three years (45 to 60 hours)

- must take THEA

Associates of Arts:

- transfer degree to a Bachelors Degree/ not straight to work - two years (60 hours)

- must take THEA

Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Arts - degree in a specifi c fi eld

- four to fi ve year degree (120 hours and more) - must take THEA

Pre-professional (BS or BA)

- words towards a professional degree in Law or Medicine - four years

Professional Degree

- after your BA or BS degree in Law or Medicine Master Degree and Doctorate

- professional degree in a specifi c fi eld

Types of colleges:

Community Colleges: - Certifi cation, Associates of Science, Associates of Arts

- Open admission

Open-admission University: - BA and BS and Master/Doctorate

- Open admission

Selective-admission: - BA and BS and Master/Doctorate

- GPA and SAT scores required

Rank of selectivity (these are only estimates):

- Prairie View A&M University GPA (open) (820 on SAT) - University of Houston Main Campus GPA (3.0) (900 on SAT) - Houston Baptist Univ & Univ. St. Thomas GPA (3.0) (900 on SAT) - Sam Houston / Stephen F. Austin State Univ: Top quarter (

- Univ. of Texas &Texas A&M University GPA (3.7) (1200 SAT or top 10%)

- Rice University GPA (4.0) (1000 on SAT)

SAT I/SAT II FEE WAIVERS & COLLEGE APPLICATION FEE WAIVERS (Fee waiver: An exemption from paying the registration fee)

Ask high school counselor for forms.

• ANY student can take the SAT I/II.

• If the student does not have a SS# or Tax ID #, write zeros on the SS# space provided in the form (Question #4).

To receive a SAT I/II fee waiver, the student must:

• Be eligible for the Free & Reduced Lunch Program in their district.

Each student is entitled to:

• 2 SAT Fee Waivers

• 1 ACT Fee Waiver

• 4 College Application Fee Waivers***

To get these 4 waivers, students must have used at least 1 fee waiver when registering for their SAT