STEPS/STAIRS

Step 1: Complete a SOWELA online visiting student admissions application (opens new window).

Special Notes for Completing the Online Admissions Application:

• Click "Sign Up" (under "Don't have an account yet?") using a unique email address. Fill out the personal information and account email/username and password boxes. Please do not use high school-issued email addresses to avoid verification issues.
• Once your email address is verified, please sign into your admissions application account and select the appropriate upcoming term. Hit Apply Now to begin the online admissions application.
• Please be sure to select "currently enrolled in high school" and "yes" to “Will you still be in high school when starting classes?” to be coded as a high school Dual Enrollment eligible student.
• All dual enrollment students must select Non-Degree as their upcoming Major. Please choose the campus you will be attending. If you will be attending online courses only or courses taught on your high school campus, please select Main Campus.

Step 2: Complete the STEPS/STAIRS Course Request Form

• Complete the STEPS/STAIRS Course Request Form every term you wish to be enrolled. While a student only needs to apply for enrollment online once, students must submit a STEPS/STAIRS Course Request Form for each term/semester of enrollment.
• Student and Parent/Custodian/Guardian Instructions: Complete Section I with a parent/custodian/guardian. After filling out student information, student and parent/custodian/guardian must print, sign, and date at the end of Section I.
• High School Principal or Counselor instructions: Complete Section II of the STEPS/STAIRS Course Request Form. List courses needed by the high school student to complete graduation requirements. Your signature verifies that the courses listed will be applied to/fulfill the student's graduation requirements and authorizes SOWELA to enroll the student in the listed courses.
• Please scan and email the STEPS/STAIRS Course Request Form, high school transcript, and ACT/ACCUPLACER Next Generation scores as a PDF document to dualenrollment@sowela.edu.

General Admission and Participation Requirements

• All students must be enrolled as a senior at a participating (as evidenced by a current CEA) public or private high school within one of the parishes/districts served by SOWELA or a BESE-approved home study program.
• Unless a student is enrolled in a Calcasieu Parish School Board school, all students should be in their senior year.
• High school seniors must be at least 17 years old, and no more than 18 years old, by September 30th of their senior year.
• Students must have permission from a designee from their high school and their parent/guardian to participate in Dual Enrollment. Parents may act as the designee for BESE-approved home study programs.
• Students must submit a high school transcript with a calculated GPA based on a 4.00 grading system.
• Students must be enrolled in college courses for which dual credit (both college and high school credit) is attempted and recorded on both the student's secondary and postsecondary academic records.
• Students enrolled in courses with school board credentialed instructors that meet at any SOWELA instructional site must also satisfy the following requirements:
• • Students must have no more than three disciplinary actions during their last school year noted in their high school records.
  • Students must have no more than ten (10) unexcused absences during their last school year noted in their high school records.
• All STEPS students have a registrar's hold placed on their student accounts to prevent unauthorized registration, schedule changes, or withdrawals. All requests for registration and/or schedule changes must be submitted to the Dual Enrollment Coordinator for processing by the Registrar's Office. Additionally, course withdrawals require permission from the student's home high school and the College.
• Students participating in STEPS must enroll in a minimum of twelve (12) semester credit hours of courses in each of the fall and spring semesters. Students may carry a maximum course load of 15 credit hours each semester. Each semester a minimum of nine (9) credit hours of coursework must be taken at the SOWELA main campus in Lake Charles.
• All senior dual enrollment students must complete all core requirements needed for high school graduation prior to the spring semester of their senior year, unless the core requirement is being fulfilled at the parish/district school or a BESE-approved home study program.
• To remain a participant in the Dual Enrollment (or STEPS) program, students must earn a grade of “C” or better in all courses taken for college credit during the current academic year.

Additional Requirements for Technical Courses

• Students must meet all eligibility requirements that may be imposed by their home school district including, but not limited to, minimum scores on the ASPIRE, Pre-ACT, ACT, or WorkKeys Tests. Only Pre-ACT, ACT, and Next Generation ACCUPLACER scores can be used to satisfy prerequisite or test score requirements for course entry.
• Students must meet course-specific prerequisites including appropriate scores on an authorized assessment per Louisiana Board of Regents Academic Affairs Policy 2.22.
• Courses and programs may have industry-based age requirements or safety requirements. These requirements may limit who is eligible to enroll. Please check with counselors or SOWELA’s Dual Enrollment Office.

Additional Requirements for General Education and Other Courses on the Board of Regents Matrix

• Students must have and maintain a high school grade point average of at least 2.5 on a 4.00 system.
• SOWELA uses Louisiana Board of Regents guidance in Academic Affairs Policy 2.22 for placement in Dual Enrollment courses. The current standard is that any student that scores an 18 on the English ACT exam (or comparable score on another authorized test) may enroll in Humanities and Social Sciences. Any student that scores a 20 on the MATH ACT (or comparable score on another authorized test) may enroll in a Science or Mathematics course.

• Note: Not all options are offered to Dual Enrollment partners. Please check with your counselors to see what is available at your school.
• Students must meet course-specific prerequisites including appropriate scores on an authorized assessment per Louisiana Board of Regents Academic Affairs Policy 2.22.