College NOW

All students who plan to take Heartland courses on campus, online, at a high school, or at a career center must complete the Heartland student admission process.

If you are not yet 16 years old and intend to take HCC courses on campus or online, you are considered an Early Bird and there are additional early admission steps you must complete.

Registration Timelines

You can access the Heartland schedule based on the dates in the registration timeline chart to view available on-campus/online courses each semester. Once you see the course(s) you want to take, make sure you have met the placement requirements listed for the course(s). You can click the course titles on the schedule to see placement requirements.

Select Your High School or Career Center

You will see potential 25-26 Heartland courses chosen by high school and career center administrators. Your high school counselor is your main contact person to enroll in those courses. (Note: You need Adobe Acrobat Reader for PDFs.)

Heartland Student Benefits

• Get a Heartland student ID card to receive discounts and access student services.
• Learn more about HCC Tutoring Services Center and Success Coaching for support.
• Contact HCC Student Access & Accommodation Services (SAAS) for your accommodation requests.

Drop/Withdrawal Instructions

*If taking Heartland courses for dual credit, talk with your high school counselor before following these instructions to drop/withdraw from a Heartland course:

• Log into my.heartland.edu
• Select Student Center, then enter your username and password.
• Choose the Manage Classes option; you should see Drop Classes in the left panel to continue the process.
• Click on the term header (i.e., Fall 2022, Spring 2023) to view your currently enrolled courses and select the appropriate course(s) for drop or withdrawal.

View HCC's academic drop and withdrawal deadlines:

• When you drop a course before the drop deadline, you will receive a refund, and no "W" will appear on your HCC transcript.
• When you withdraw from a course after the drop deadline but before the withdrawal deadline, you will not receive a refund, and a "W" will appear on your HCC transcript.

Graduating? Continue At HCC!

Successfully completing HCC courses as a College NOW student means you can easily continue on to earn a degree or certificate at Heartland! Simply resubmit the Heartland application, but this time as a First Time College Student with Credit. Don't worry! You'll keep the HCC login credentials and email address. Then, you can plan your transfer to another college/university!

Access Your College Transcript

The grade you earn will be recorded on your unofficial and official HCC transcript.

• You can download and print a copy of your unofficial transcript instantly from your Student Center.
• If you intend to transfer your Heartland credits to another college/university, you can request your official transcript after your last HCC course.

*Colleges use official transcripts to determine your financial aid eligibility. If you continue your college education after high school graduation and plan to seek financial aid, you must maintain satisfactory academic progress.

Important Academic Calendar Dates

Fall 2025

Important Dates

• Sept 1: Labor Day (HCC Closed)
• Oct 27-Nov 3: Spring 2026 Priority Registration
• Nov 4: Spring 2026 Open Enrollment
• Nov 26-30: Thanksgiving Break (HCC Closed)
• Dec 24-Jan 1: Winter Break (HCC Closed)

College NOW students are Heartland students who can take a variety of college courses. Here are two main categories of Heartland courses:

• These courses are connected to particular degree and certificate pathways at Heartland that may transfer to other colleges/universities in various ways.
• You can review the current degree and certificate options offered at Heartland. 

*Heartland also offers developmental (non-credit bearing) courses that help students advance to the next level of coursework and elective courses that may transfer to other colleges/universities in various ways.

According to the Illinois Community College Board... 

Both provide opportunities for students to earn college credit while in high school. Four-year colleges and universities routinely accept dual credit and advanced placement course credit; however, students must check with the college/university they intend to transfer to for information about how those credits transfer.

Please note the following:

• Dual credit courses are college courses for which students earn transferrable college credit; they appear on your collegiate transcript upon course completion.  

• Advanced Placement courses are high school courses for which students do not automatically earn college credit upon completion. Instead, students must register to take an exam and achieve the required score, as denoted by various colleges/universities. Scores need to be sent to each college the student enrolls in. 

*HCC awards college course credit for some high school AP courses. View our Advanced Placement Website for additional information regarding credit.

You can drop or withdraw from Heartland courses according to the deadline set for each semester. It is important to know the difference between the two:

Yes - it is very important that you take the right courses once you know the college major/career you eventually want to pursue.
To learn more about your options, connect with the HCC Advisement Team in any of the following ways:

College NOW students are limited to enrollment in 8 credit hours in classes taken on-campus/online, and in the fall/spring no more than 18 credit hours can be taken between dual credit classes they are enrolled in at their high school and on-campus/online classes.  Early admission (Early Bird) students are limited to 1 course (3-4 credit hours) in their first semester of enrollment at HCC. 

A student who would like to enroll in more than the maximum number of credit hours must complete an Overload Request Form that they request and receive from an academic advisor. Submission of the form does not guarantee approval; the Overload Request Form and student's academic record will be reviewed by the appropriate staff before approving or denying the request.