CollegeNOW

Heartland's Early College office follows these general course and enrollment timelines.

High Schools

Career Centers 

2027-28 Course Selection Guide 

Current partners can access course request forms via our shared Google Drive hub when prompted in early September. Requests are due by September 30 annually for the following academic year.

Completing your course request form gives HCC insight into (1) what college courses you desire to offer as dual credit options for your students and (2) what level of support your school may need from HCC. *We'll ask you to affirm your approved courses by or before March 15.

Students must complete the HCC admissions application to earn dual credit for courses.  

• High school partner admission window: September 1-April 30
• Career center partner admission window: until September 30

Early college students must meet all applicable placement requirements before enrolling into their intended courses.

Review HCC's Placement Ranges. Students can meet placement in one of the following ways:

1. Qualifying Standardized Test Score - the Testing Center lists acceptable standardized test scores that may exempt students from completing placement tests. 
   • Partner designees can upload official test score reports on behalf of the students to the secure upload portal. Please do not submit score reports until the student appears on your ECAR.
   • HCC does not accept the Pre-ACT for placement waiver   
2. Placement Testing at Heartland - testing is available at the Normal, Lincoln or Pontiac locations.  Placement testing must be completed by April 30 for the following academic year, unless otherwise arranged with the Early College office.
   • Students can schedule individual placement testing appointments through their myHeartland account, OR
   • Counselors can schedule group testing sessions using the Group Testing Form below
   • After testing is complete, students' literacy and/or math scores should appear on the next ECAR
3. Advanced Placement (AP) Scores - Review the list of current AP scores accepted by HCC.
   • Counselors can submit a score report containing eligible scores as placement into applicable courses through the secure upload portal.
   • Students must have their AP score report submitted direclty to HCC's Registrar's Office if they want a course for which they have met the appropriate AP score to apear on their Heartland transcript.

High school counselors may schedule group testing appointments at the Normal, Lincoln and Pontiac locations. 

Normal Campus: Each exam session cannot exceed 30 total students and all students must have at least 1 exam in common. If you have a group of more than 30 students that need to test, please submit a separate form for each group of 30 students or less. Essentially one completed form equals one scheduled exam session.

Lincoln Campus: Each exam session cannot exceed 15 total students and all students must have at least 1 exam in common. If you have a group of more than 15 students that need to test, please submit a separate form for each group of 15 students or less. 

Pontiac Campus: Each exam session cannot exceed 10 total students and all students must have at least 1 exam in common. To schedule a Group Placement Exam at Pontiac Center, please reach out directly to Lisa Fite at Lisa.Fite@heartland.edu. You do not need to complete the form below. 

Group Testing Deadline: To ensure sufficient time for planning and coordination, requests must be submitted by the following deadlines:

• Fall 2026 testing: September 30, 2026
• Spring 2027 testing: December 23, 2026

CNOW Placement Testing Timeline:

• 1 month prior to testing date: All qualifying scores must have been submitted.
• 2 weeks prior to testing date: All students must have submitted an HCC CNOW Application.
• 1 week prior to testing date: All testing rosters must have been submitted via Google Spreadsheet. 

Instructor Qualifications

Per the requirements of the Dual Credit Quality Act (DCQA), instructor credentials will be evaluated by the appropriate College Academic Dean to determine eligibility to teach the requested course. An Academic Audit will be completed and placed on file for record.  

• For transfer courses (1.1. PCS), these qualifications include either:
  • a minimum of a Master’s Degree in the discipline taught, or
  • a Master’s degree in any other discipline and a minimum of, but not more than, 18 graduate hours in the discipline taught. 
• For career technical education courses (CTE 1.2 PCS), these qualifications include 2,000 hours of work experience and the appropriate recognizable credential depending on the specific field.  

Professional Development Plan

Instructors not meeting these qualifications may qualify for a dual credit professional development plan per Section 20 of the Dual Credit Quality Act. Qualifying conditions are as follows:  

• Instructor has a Master's degree in any discipline and has earned 9 graduate hours in a discipline in which he or she is currently teaching or expects to teach; or  
• Instructor is a fully licensed instructor in career and technical education who is halfway toward meeting the postsecondary institution's requirements for faculty in the discipline to be taught. 

Instructor agrees to demonstrate his or her progress toward completion to the supervising institution, as outlined in the professional development plan.

Prospective Instructor Approval Process

Submit the following documents to earlycollege@heartland.edu or upload securely to ShareFile by September 30:

• Prospective faculty form OR resume/curriculum vitae 
• Official undergraduate and graduate college transcripts  
• Any applicable credentials, certifications, and/or licenses

All District instructors are required to attend College NOW faculty orientation sessions prior to the first year of teaching and subsequently attend at least one departmental meeting annually to ensure that the curriculum being taught in dual credit courses is consistent with that being taught in the same courses as delivered on campus. Orientation sessions for incoming instructors include a:

• General overview meeting hosted by the Director, Curriculum & Early College Processes; 
• Academic department meeting hosted by the appropriate College Dean or designees; 
• Information technology and records management (combined) meeting hosted by appropriate College personnel from those areas. 
• Canvas Learning Management System orientation available online, asynchronous through the Teaching and Learning Commons.

Expectations 

• Attend all mandatory  College NOW Faculty Orientation sessions according to the schedule provided.  
• Attend HCC department-hosted curriculum alignment meetings at least once every year and before any year of being scheduled to teach a new HCC course.  
• Prepare and submit syllabi through Simple Syllabus for courses taught.  
• Respond to departmental requests for syllabi and course assessment materials by deadlines.  
• Respond to requests from HCC department to set up course reviews/site visits. 
• Respond to requests from HCC Registrar’s office to complete roster verification and midterm/final grade entry by deadlines each term. Use the College's Learning Management System to, at a minimum, provide students with basic course information (syllabus, instructor information) and as indicated by the College to collect assessment and evaluation data.
• Evaluate students based on HCC's Grading Philosophy and Rubric.
• Maintain reasonable accessibility to students and manage student issues in a manner consistent with the HCC Student Handbook.

Best Practices 

• Be open to teaching and instructional design strategies such as embedding non-cognitive skill development into the curriculum (Heartland uses the On Course methodology) and employing Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to provide all individuals equal opportunities to learn.
• Heartland offers workshops on best teaching practices, instructional design, and assessment that are open to all College NOW faculty. 
• Employ active learning.
• Communicate openly with HCC partners to ask for feedback and ideas; share challenges and opportunities.  

*Heartland Community College offers general education core courses in accordance with the Illinois Articulation Initiative (IAI), a statewide agreement designed to help college credits transfer to more than 100 participating colleges and universities in Illinois.

*Heartland Community College offers general education core courses in accordance with the Illinois Articulation Initiative (IAI), a statewide agreement designed to help college credits transfer to more than 100 participating colleges and universities in Illinois.

*Heartland Community College offers general education core courses in accordance with the Illinois Articulation Initiative (IAI), a statewide agreement designed to help college credits transfer to more than 100 participating colleges and universities in Illinois.

*Heartland Community College offers general education core courses in accordance with the Illinois Articulation Initiative (IAI), a statewide agreement designed to help college credits transfer to more than 100 participating colleges and universities in Illinois.

*Heartland Community College offers general education core courses in accordance with the Illinois Articulation Initiative (IAI), a statewide agreement designed to help college credits transfer to more than 100 participating colleges and universities in Illinois.

*Heartland Community College offers general education core courses in accordance with the Illinois Articulation Initiative (IAI), a statewide agreement designed to help college credits transfer to more than 100 participating colleges and universities in Illinois.

*Heartland Community College offers general education core courses in accordance with the Illinois Articulation Initiative (IAI), a statewide agreement designed to help college credits transfer to more than 100 participating colleges and universities in Illinois.

*Heartland Community College offers general education core courses in accordance with the Illinois Articulation Initiative (IAI), a statewide agreement designed to help college credits transfer to more than 100 participating colleges and universities in Illinois.

*Heartland Community College offers general education core courses in accordance with the Illinois Articulation Initiative (IAI), a statewide agreement designed to help college credits transfer to more than 100 participating colleges and universities in Illinois.

*Heartland Community College offers general education core courses in accordance with the Illinois Articulation Initiative (IAI), a statewide agreement designed to help college credits transfer to more than 100 participating colleges and universities in Illinois.

*Heartland Community College offers general education core courses in accordance with the Illinois Articulation Initiative (IAI), a statewide agreement designed to help college credits transfer to more than 100 participating colleges and universities in Illinois.

*Heartland Community College offers general education core courses in accordance with the Illinois Articulation Initiative (IAI), a statewide agreement designed to help college credits transfer to more than 100 participating colleges and universities in Illinois.