Academic Policies

The University of Pittsburgh takes academic integrity seriously. All College in High School teachers, students, and their parents/guardians are required to review and be familiar with the University’s Academic Integrity Code.

High School students enrolling in college coursework should understand the benefits and risks of beginning a college transcript. If you eventually attend the University of Pittsburgh for college, your grades from your CHS course will be calculated into your grade point average automatically. If you attend another university, you may be able to transfer your credit depending upon those institutions’ transfer policies. In rare cases, some colleges and universities will also transfer grades, so whether you go to Pitt or go elsewhere, a low or failing grade can have a permanent impact on your academic future. Make sure to speak with your instructor about any concerns and be aware of the drop and withdrawal deadlines for your course if you are not likely to succeed.

What is a College Transcript?
Transferring Your CHS Credits

Some common abbreviations explained: FERPA, ADA 

It is important for you to monitor your own progress in a course. If you think you may not be successful in your course, discuss it immediately with your teacher. If your teacher agrees that leaving the CHS course is the best decision, your teacher will obtain a Course Drop/Withdrawal Request form from the CHS office. You will obtain the signatures of your teacher and parent/guardian, and return the form to your teacher before the deadline. (Dropping/Withdrawing from the CHS course has no effect on enrollment in the high school credits for the course.)

If you drop a course, it will not appear on the Pitt transcript and you will receive a full refund for the course. 

If you withdraw from a course, a grade of "W" will appear on your Pitt transcript and tuition is not refunded. 

Deadlines are based on the course's schedule:

CHS staff strictly adheres to these deadlines.

Student’s rights under the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (“FERPA”) are reflected in University Policy AC 04 (formerly 09-08-01).  Additional FERPA resources and notifications can be found at the Office of the University Registrar.  In accordance with FERPA, if a student is attending the University of Pittsburgh, at any age, the rights under FERPA have transferred to the student.  However, in a situation where a student is enrolled in both a high school and the University of Pittsburgh, the two schools may exchange information on that student.  If the student is under 18, the parents still retain the rights under FERPA at the high school and may inspect and review any records sent by the University of Pittsburgh to the high school.

College in High School-certified high school teachers determine your grades based on your performance on exams and assignments. Grades earned in CHS courses appear on an official University of Pittsburgh transcript, and the course credits may be eligible for transfer to the college or university of your choice. Most colleges and universities accept these transfer credits; we recommend contacting the schools that you are thinking of applying to, in order to check in advance if they will accept these credits. If you decide to attend any University of Pittsburgh campus, the CHS course grade will count toward your grade point average at the University. If you take a CHS course as well as the equivalent Advanced Placement (AP) course exam, and then attend the University of Pittsburgh, the CHS course grade supersedes the AP credit.

Since the standards for grading in a high school course might differ slightly from University of Pittsburgh standards, a student who registers for a CHS course could receive two course grades: one from the high school and one on the University transcript. However, in most cases the grades are the same. These grading standards are explained at the beginning of each course.

Starting college credits early has great advantages; however, there can also be risks to future financial aid if the experience does not go well. Make sure that you are aware of the drop and withdrawal deadlines for your course so you can be removed from it if you are not likely to succeed. Your grade point average can be used in determining eligibility for merit-based scholarships. It is possible to lose federal financial aid eligibility if you have a low ratio of credits attempted to credits earned. Dropped courses would not appear on your transcript; however, courses you withdraw from do appear on the transcript and count as "credits attempted." You should seriously consider your career path when selecting courses to take while still in high school. Accruing too many unrequired credits could negatively impact your long-term financial aid eligibility.

​What does this mean to me?

Students who are still in high school and would like to repeat a CHS course at the high school must complete a new registration form and pay the tuition to take the course again. Students entering the University of Pittsburgh may repeat the course, with the exceptions listed in the following paragraph. While both grades will appear on the student’s transcript, only the second grade affects the grade point average. Students do not receive double credit for a repeated course.

Exceptions: Students who earn a C or better in a CHS course and then enter the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford or the Swanson School of Engineering will not be able to repeat the course.

Students moving to a new school and wanting to register for credit through CHS must follow the required deadlines for registering and paying. All students receiving credit through CHS receive an official and permanent Pitt grade for a course, with the same criteria applied to every student, and it would be unfair to grade a transfer student using criteria intended for students who were present for the whole term. Therefore, University policies do not permit CHS to register these students after the deadline.