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Earn college credit over the summer at EXPLO

In an EXPLO Pre-College Career Concentration, you can earn two to three college credits before you even enroll in college. Earning college credit in high school is a great way to enhance your college application and gain experience with college-level coursework.

  • Complete a college-level research and writing assignment that you can share with prospective internship employers.
  • Enhance your college application by checking off and submitting your college-level course for credit on the Common Application.
  • Draw on the dynamic combination of experiences on-campus and post-program to enrich your college application essays and interviews, and to demonstrate your interest in the field of study.

How it works

EXPLO has exclusive partnerships with Sarah Lawrence College, one of the leading liberal arts colleges in the country and is perennially at the top of national rankings for the quality of its teaching faculty, and Hampshire College, ranked by U.S. News and World Report as one of the most innovative colleges in the country, with 25% of its alumni starting their own businesses and organizations, to let Career Concentration students earn college credit over the summer

By combining the Career Concentration at EXPLO with a post-program research and writing assignment, you can earn two college credits from Sarah Lawrence or Hampshire College. You can often transfer these credits to other schools of your choice, subject to their transfer credit rules.

How to apply

In order to earn college credit through EXPLO, you must first be accepted into the Pre-College Program. Follow these steps to apply:

  • Choose a Pre-College Career Concentration.
  • Create an account and submit your application in the Application Portal.
  • After you’re accepted to and enrolled in the Pre-College Career Concentration, complete the form in the Student Portal to add the college credit option; a $650 fee* will be applied to your final tuition and fees.

Frequently asked questions

Credits earned range from two to three credits and vary per concentration. If you have received credit through an EXPLO program in the past, you’re not eligible to receive credit from the same institution. For more information about the number of credits you can earn from specific concentrations please contact our Admission Office.

No. You must opt-in for college credit, which requires an additional fee and the completion of a research and writing project of six to eight pages, which will be done after the on-campus portion of the program has concluded. The research and writing assignment is an exploration of a challenge that practitioners in the field could encounter in the near future. The work builds on the on-campus experience, combined with individual purpose, research, and interest to develop and connect the ideas of the concentration. Details about the research and writing assignment will be provided to you during the program.

Absolutely. You’ll also get an official transcript for the credit to include with your college applications. 

Yes. That said, every college has its own requirements for transfer credit, and you’ll need to confirm with each institution how they would deal with this credit option.