Online G3 Partners with Arizona State University

For years, we have been searching for ways to help our Online G3 students transition to college smoothly. We want our students to have strong transcripts, skills for success in college-level classes, and confidence in their own abilities. So, we are delighted to announce a new partnership with Arizona State University that will help us achieve these goals!

G3 students will soon have the opportunity to take online courses with ASU for dual-enrollment credit, meaning that students can place these credits on their high school or homeschool transcripts as well as apply these units towards their college degrees. Students who successfully complete ASU online courses will be able to request official ASU transcripts just like any other college student. 

BUT, this isn’t just any online college opportunity. Students who enroll through this program will be able to take an entire course and learn their final grades before deciding whether or not to place the class on their transcripts!  This is a low-stress way for students to try out college fearlessly and see if they are ready for more. 

What’s more, this partnership allows G3 to provide support and community for students taking ASU classes through this program. Here’s how it works:

• Families register students for ASU online classes via the usual G3 registration system.
• G3 will place students in both the selected ASU online class AND a G3 Moodle class.
• The G3 Moodle class will offer forums and webinars for students to stay in touch as they work through the ASU class as a cohort. 
• G3 instructors will help students navigate the ASU online system and guide students through tasks like reading the syllabus, seeking academic or technical assistance, and preparing for online exam proctoring. 
• G3 instructors can also support students with study skills, executive functioning, and calendar planning. 
• ASU provides instructor access to courses so that G3 instructors can monitor students’ participation in class and alert families if students are struggling and need additional support.

We are still working out the details of our support program, so we want to learn from students and shape our system to meet their needs! Therefore, we are running an 8-week trial in the summer of 2021 (starting June 8) for current or former G3 students who have had success in at least one of our Teen Focus classes and would like to test out ASM (Anthropology) 246 Human Origins at ASU with a G3 cohort. The fee to participate in this trial is just $25 to cover our administrative costs. If the student decides to place the credit on their official ASU transcript at the end of the course, there will be an additional $400 fee payable directly to ASU. 

Interested in the summer trial? Watch the course preview video below, then email us! 

Interested in future courses with ASU?  Read on!

Throughout the summer trial, we will be asking students about their experiences and their support needs so that we can shape our system for the future. ASU offers approximately 20 courses via this program, and we will work with ASU to find courses that mesh well with the G3 calendar and student interests to offer each semester. We are still determining an appropriate fee structure, but rest assured that the cost will be lower than a typical G3 semester course. The one financial variable that is outside of our control is the fee to place the credit on the student’s ASU transcript. That fee is currently $400 and is payable directly to ASU.

Eventually, students who successfully work through some of these select ASU courses will be able to independently access additional courses from the ASU catalog. Students can even continue seamlessly into an ASU degree program if they wish!

Why college credit? It is often challenging for homeschoolers and other independent learners to document their academic success. Test scores have long been critical prerequisites for college admissions. But not all gifted students test well, and then there was COVID, and a lawsuit, and then the College Board abruptly retired SAT Subject Tests. With all of these changes, dual enrollment classes have become one of the best ways for students to prove that they are worthy of college acceptance. After all, a student who is already successful in college is likely going to continue to succeed, and that’s what universities want most.

Why ASU? Well, for one thing, U.S. News and World Report has ranked ASU #1 in Innovation for six straight years – ahead of schools like MIT, Stanford, and Carnegie Mellon. We think that innovative spirit really shows in this partnership to allow younger students to access higher education with age-appropriate support. 

Beyond that, the ASU mission really speaks to us here at G3: 

“ASU is a comprehensive public research university, measured not by whom it excludes, but by whom it includes and how they succeed.” 

As parents of gifted learners ourselves, we have spent significant time trying to gain access to appropriate education for our students. We know what it’s like to struggle to find options for 2e kids, or guide an anxious teen to self-advocate for a challenging opportunity. ASU’s mission makes it clear that they welcome and value ALL students, and we love that!