Course Placement or Credit

Seeking Course Placement or Credit for your Duke TIP Course

Though Duke TIP is a non-graded program and does not grant credit or issue a grade or transcript for completion of a Duke TIP course, many students have successfully requested that their local school issue placement or credit for work completed at Duke TIP. Once a student has been accepted to Duke TIP, it is important to begin the process of seeking placement or credit from local schools before the program begins. Families who plan to seek placement or credit at local schools for Duke TIP coursework should do the following:

  1. Call the school counselor, vice-principal, or registrar (the person who would grant placement or credit for a student's work at Duke TIP) .
  2. Explain that Duke TIP students enroll in one course for three weeks and attend class for 108 contact hours.
  3. Inform the local school official that at the end of the Duke TIP course, students receive a course description, a syllabus, and an evaluation rubric that indicates the Duke TIP Instructor's recommendation for course placement.
  4. Students enrolled in Math Sequence Courses (Algebra I, Algebra II, and Geometry) will take a standardized final exam. These scores can also be provided.

School officials will use the information provided to decide whether or not to grant course placement or credit. If Duke TIP can be of assistance to you in this process, please contact Liz Morgan, the Duke TIP Academic Coordinator, at (919) 668-9100.

If a local school grants course credit for a student's work at Duke TIP, it means that the school is willing to accept the Duke TIP course as an equivalent to a similar course offered in the local system or school. Often, a school district will require a certain number of contact hours for the course to qualify for credit. Each Duke TIP course provides 108 contact hours. Schools often require a grade from Duke TIP, or ask if Duke TIP will grant credit. Remember that Duke TIP is not a credit-granting institution. It is also a non-graded program; therefore, we do not and cannot issue a grade or transcript for work completed.

If local school officials are willing to accept the Duke TIP course for credit but are unable to resolve the non-graded nature of the course with their school policies, parents may suggest that the school issue a "P" indicating that the course was completed at another school. If this alternative is available at the local school, the course appears on the student's transcript and grade issues are resolved.

If a local school agrees to issue placement for a Duke TIP course, this means that the local school will agree to acknowledge that a student has mastered the material covered in a particular course, and the school agrees to place the student in the next most appropriate course. This often allows a student to accelerate in a particular area. We also will not certify that courses are honors or gifted level courses.