Some high school students enter their first year of college with enough credits to be college sophomores. High school students can earn college credit while in high school through the following:

Advanced Placement

The purpose of the Advanced Placement (AP) program is to offer college-level courses to high school students. Administered by the College Board, the AP program includes both courses as well as a testing program that colleges and universities may utilize to grant credit to students who have performed well on AP examinations.

Career and College Promise

Through Career and College Promise (CCP), qualified students in North Carolina have the opportunity to pursue classes at community colleges tuition-free while they are in high school, allowing them to get a jumpstart on their workplace and college preparation. CCP provides three pathways to help advance eligible students' success beyond high school.

• College Transfer pathways provide tuition-free course credits toward the Associate in Arts, Associate in Science or Associate in Engineering degrees which will transfer seamlessly to any public or participating private college or university.
• Technical Careers pathways earn tuition-free course credits at an NC community college toward a job credential, certificate or diploma in a technical career.
• Cooperative Innovative High Schools offer tuition-free college credits for high school students who attend one of these schools.

More info on Career and College Promise. 

Cooperative Innovative High Schools 

• City of Medicine Academy (CMA) focuses on rigorous health and life sciences courses of study preparing students for post-secondary learning in the field. Through a partnership with Durham Technical Community College, students can earn college credit and/or professional certifications in health care fields while in high school. Students have access to internships, clinical experiences, shadowing opportunities, mentoring, and instruction by licensed healthcare professionals.

• Durham School of Technology focuses on rigorous IT and Computer Science courses of study preparing students for post-secondary learning in the field. Through a partnership with Durham Technical Community College, students can earn college credit and/or professional certifications in IT and Computer Science fields while in high school. Students have access to internships, shadowing opportunities, mentoring, and instruction by industry professionals.
• Josephine Dobbs Clement Early College High School (JDC Early College) is located on the campus of North Carolina Central University. In this academically rigorous program, students take both honors/AP level high school courses and college courses. Students can earn up to two years of university credit with all course and material expenses covered. Middle College is best suited for students who can demonstrate a high degree of responsibility, independence, and intrinsic motivation.
• Middle College High School (Middle College at DTCC) is located on the campus of Durham Technical Community College. In this academically rigorous program, students take both honors level high school courses and college courses. Students can earn a year or more of university credit and have the potential to graduate with both a high school diploma and an associates degree with all course and material expenses covered. Middle College is best suited for students who can demonstrate a high degree of responsibility, independence, and intrinsic motivation.

International Baccalaureate

The International Baccalaureate aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.  To this end, the organization works with schools, governments and international organizations to develop challenging programmes of international education and rigorous assessment.  These programmes encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right. 

Articulation Agreements

The North Carolina High School to Community College Articulation Agreement is an agreement between the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and the North Carolina Community College System. This provides a seamless process that joins secondary and postsecondary Career and Technical Education (CTE) program of study. This statewide articulation agreement comprises approximately 50 high school CTE courses that match the knowledge and skills taught in similar community college courses. The agreement ensures that if a student is proficient in his or her high school course, the student can receive college credit for that course at any NC community college. This streamlines the student's educational pathway by eliminating the need to take multiple courses with the same learning outcomes.

The Local Articulation Agreement allows students to receive community college course credit for completion of identified Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses taken in high school. To earn the community college credit for the CTE courses the student must:

1. Earn a grade of B or higher in the high school CTE course.
2. Enroll at Durham Tech within two years of the student's high school graduation date.