Parkside Access to College Credit
WHAT IS PACC?
Earn College Credits in High School
The Parkside Access to College Credit Program (PACC), is an equitable concurrent enrollment program at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. Concurrent enrollment refers to programs that enable you to enroll in courses that earn both high school and college credit, taught by university-authorized high school teachers at the high school during the regular school day. These programs increase your access to higher education, shorten the time to degree, lower the cost of college for you, and improve high school-college relationships. High school juniors and seniors, (sophomores by exception) in good academic standing and on track to graduate in four years are eligible to participate in PACC.
PACC courses will appear on your UW-Parkside transcript. PACC courses are the same courses as those available at the UW-Parkside campus. Your high school teacher and a UW-Parkside faculty member work together to develop these college-level courses within your high school.
UW-Parkside’s concurrent enrollment program
- Students take UW-Parkside college courses
- Students earn college and high school credits simultaneously
- Course taught by qualified HS teachers
- Course taught during the regular school day at the high schools
- Students earn their grades over the semester
- UW-Parkside transcript
The PACC program is guided by the same University mission, which states "The University of Wisconsin-Parkside is committed to high-quality educational programs, creative and scholarly activities, and services responsive to its diverse student population, and its local, national, and global communities." With this mission in mind, we welcome you to the PACC program! We hope that through this experience we will help students gain confidence in their abilities to succeed at the college level.
What is a PACC course?
This is a course taken in your high school. It is a college course, that has been created for your high school, that allows you to earn both high school and college credits. Signing up for a high school course that offers the PACC course option, gives you the opportunity to decide if you want to earn college credit. The course content, homework, and tests are no different if you choose to enroll in the PACC option. The only difference is you will earn college credit since you enrolled in the PACC course - those who didn't will not.
EFFECTIVE FALL 2022 - SPRING 2025
The PACC program has been approved to offer UW-Parkside courses in Kenosha and Racine county high schools at no cost to students. All students enrolling in PACC courses during this time will NOT be charged tuition to promote a college-going culture.
For our partner districts and schools outside of Kenosha and Racine counties, tuition remains $100 per credit as guided by UW System Administrative Policy 185.
LOCAL COLLEGE GOING DATA
Southeast Wisconsin needs more Racine and Kenosha students to go to college. Statewide, bachelor’s degree attainment is 30 percent, yet only 26 percent in Kenosha County and 25 percent in Racine County.[i] The proportion of high school graduates in SE WI that go directly to college is also lower than elsewhere in Wisconsin and has fallen further during the pandemic. The Department of Public Instruction reports[ii] almost 60 percent of high school graduates statewide typically go directly to college. This fell to almost 50 percent in fall 2020 during the pandemic. In Kenosha and Racine where college-going rates are already lower, they fell precipitously to under 30 percent in fall 2020. Data from UW-Parkside indicates startling two-year fall-offs in first-time, full-time freshman enrollments since the pre-COVID fall 2019 term among African American (-66 percent), Hispanic (-31 percent), and Pell students (-43 percent).
[i] https://www.towncharts.com/Wisconsin/Wisconsin-state-Education-data.html
PROGRAM CONTACT
262-595-2334 | pacc@uwp.edu
