How to Take Community College

Classes During High School

California Community College Classes

The benefits of taking courses at a California Community College are:

  • Classes are free or very inexpensive

  • Classes are only one quarter or semester long

  • They can be taken in person, online live, or online asynchronous (by watching videos)

  • You can find many course subjects that may not be available in high school

  • On the University of California (UC) college application, your grade is weighted like an honors/AP class on your high school transcript

Enrolling in a California Community College Class:

  1. Get permission from your high school counselor, who may ask you to fill out a permission form like this Non-SFUSD Course Form.

  2. Open an "OpenCCC" account on the CCCApply website (choose a community college on the right side drop down menu, which will take you to the “Create an Account” page). This allows you to then apply to be a dual/concurrent enrollment student at any of the California community college.

  3. Follow the school’s instructions for registering as a dual/concurrent enrollment student. For example, the instructions for Skyline/CSM/Cañada Colleges are here and involve a docusign being emailed to your parent and high school counselor for electronic signatures.

A few things to know about Community College classes:

  • VERY IMPORTANT: Since these classes are outside of SFUSD, be sure to get approval from your high school counselor before enrolling! Different high schools have their own rules regarding needing permission to take outside classes and may require you to fill out paperwork (typically this Non-SFUSD Course Form) and get it signed by your counselor. We recommend deciding which class you want to take at least a month prior to the end of school to ensure you have time to get approvals from your high school.

  • Before asking your counselor for permission to take the class, double check that it is a UC-approved class. The websites for the class usually notes if a class is approved by UC, CSU, or both.

  • At City College of San Francisco (CCSF), you need to have completed sophomore year of high school to become a dual enrollment student.

  • Popular community colleges for SF students are the Skyline College/College of San Mateo/Cañada College group, Foothill, and De Anza.

  • We recommend you marking the drop date and withdrawal date on your calendar in change your mind after starting the class. A “drop” won’t be on your record, whereas a “withdrawal” will show a “W” on your college transcript which isn’t a big deal. You might also have the option to change your grade to Pass/Fail after the drop date.

  • Whether you choose to have your counselor add the completed class to your high school transcript or not, it will be on your official community college transcript. On college applications, you will need to add it as a “college attended” with the course name and grade.

  • Here is University of California’s website on dual enrollment.