Can you Take Online College Classes While Still in High School?

As a general rule no you cannot take online college classes while you are still a high school student. There are however some exceptions to this. The main one is that some community colleges will allow high school students to take one or two classes online with the permission of their high school. Usually this is limited to very good students who find the high school classes too easy.

While you are not technically allowed to take online college classes while in high school in most cases the reality is that there are ways around this. The main one is to simply start taking classes at a college that offers open enrolment. There are a number of online colleges that do not have any admission requirements, anybody who wants to can enrol, although normally you are required to be at least 18 years of age. Since you don't have to have a high school diploma for admission they will really have no way of knowing that you are still in high school. As for the age requirement, few schools ever ask you to prove your age so this should not be an issue.

Although there are ways that you can enrol in online college classes while you are still in high school you do have to think about whether or not it is a good idea. The first issue is simply whether you are academically ready for college classes, there is a reason after all that you normally have to finish high school first.

The other issue if you choose to lie about still being in high school is that it may affect your ability to transfer your college credits down the road. A sharp admissions officer is likely to notice that you earned the college credits before your high school diploma and may have some awkward questions. That being said in a lot of cases nobody pays that close attention and if you earn enough college credits you may even be able to transfer without even having to send in your high school diploma.

So, we have established that you can take online college classes while in high school if you really want to. We have also established that it is not a good idea for most people. We also have no doubt that there will be plenty of people who will do it in an attempt to get a leg up on college and get it done as quickly as possible.