Deering High School encourages students’ high aspirations and participation in a wide variety of academic opportunities. Our Early College Opportunities (ECO) program is one of several options that can help you gain college readiness skills and academic experience.
The ECO program allows high school students to engage in college-level academic work online, at Deering, or at a local college campus. In order to participate, some programs require that you must be an 11th or 12th grader and that your grade point average (GPA) must be 85 or higher. You may also need to provide standardized test scores from the SAT or Accuplacer test. However, please check with your School Counselor for individual program and course requirements.
We have partnerships with the following programs:
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Program
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Description
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Application Deadline
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Southern Maine Community College (SMCC)
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Classes at Deering or on the South Portland campus.
SMCC Early College Program
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May for Fall semester courses; December for Spring semester courses
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University of Southern Maine (USM)
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Classes on the Portland or Gorham campus.
USM Early College Program
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May for Fall semester courses; December for Spring semester courses
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University of Maine (UMaine)
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Online classes with a mandatory workshop in Orono.
UMaine Academ-e
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April
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St. Joseph’s College
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Classes on campus in Standish.
St. Joseph's Early Scholars
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May for Fall semester courses; December for Spring semester courses
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University of Maine at Machias
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Online, introductory level college classes.
UMM Early College
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May for Fall semester courses; December for Spring semester courses |
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AP4ALL
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Online, year-long Advanced Placement classes
AP4ALL
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March
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Generally, students can take up to six (6) undergraduate credits per year. Usually, students are expected to purchase required books and some institutions have students pay non-tuition fees (approx. $150-$200 per course).
Early college classes help to prepare students for their future by providing them with real world experience in a college classroom. The classes are rigorous and require independence. In addition to the 15 Advanced Placement classes offered at Deering, ECO classes are another way for students to earn college credit while in high school. Students who take advantage of these opportunities have the ability to save time and money in college.
Please make an appointment with your School Counselor to discuss this opportunity!