Early Enrollment

On The Path To A Great Career

The Early Enrollment program offers qualifying high school seniors the opportunity to complete their freshman year at Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology at the same time.

Early Enrollment is a fully immersive program where students can start earning credits in the majority of our high-demand, high-wage majors during their senior year of high school.

These innovative, technical-based majors train students for many different job opportunities, providing knowledge and skills that help graduates excel in their lives—professionally and personally. Many graduates receive multiple job offers before receiving their degree and have options to pursue higher degrees at four-year colleges and universities.

How does Early Enrollment differ from College in the High School? 

Early enrollment requires a student to take all of their classes at Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology. Early enrollers are full time college students. They would not report to their home high school at any point during the school day.

Our Early Enrollment Program: the Details

Classes

The average Early Enrollment student will be in class Monday through Friday. The majority of our classes take place during the day. Students can expect to take between 4-6 major-specific courses and 2-3 academic courses a semester.

Community

Early Enrollment students are part of the campus community and may participate in any on-campus club or organization. However, they are not eligible for on-campus housing or intercollegiate athletics.

In addition, early enrollers are responsible for their own transportation to and from campus. The college does allow for freshmen to have cars on campus. The cost of a parking permit is $15/year.

Cost and Financial Aid

Tuition for Early Enrollment students is 50% of the cost of full tuition for traditional students.

Early Enrollment students are eligible for financial aid, including the Stevens Grant, which provides free tuition to qualifying students based on financial need. Students are also eligible for scholarships provided by the Thaddeus Stevens Foundation and Federal Direct loan.

Participating School Districts

Students within the following school districts (SD) and private schools are eligible for early enrollment:

Chester County

• Oxford Area SD

Lancaster County

• Cocalico SD
• Columbia Borough SD
• Conestoga Valley SD
• Donegal SD
• ELANCO SD (Garden Spot HS)
• Elizabethtown SD
• Ephrata SD
• Hempfield SD
• Lampeter- Strasburg SD
• Manheim Central SD
• Manheim Township SD
• Penn Manor SD
• Pequea Valley SD
• The School District of Lancaster
• Solanco SD
• Warwick SD

Lebanon County

• Cornwall Lebanon SD

York County

• Dallastown Area SD
• Eastern York SD
• Northeastern SD
• Red Lion SD
• South Eastern SD

 In addition, the following schools also participate in Early Enrollment:

• Dayspring Christian Academy
• Ephrata Mennonite School
• Hinkletown Mennonite School
• Lancaster Catholic HS
• Lancaster County Christian School
• Lancaster Mennonite HS
• La Academia

Application Process and Timeline

Students cannot apply for early enrollment until their junior year of high school.

The early enrollment application is now available:

Early Enrollment Application

In addition to the application, we require:

• Application waiver
• Official high school transcript – the minimum GPA to be considered for early enrollment is a 2.5
• Two reference forms – one reference form from a teacher and one reference form from a counselor

Additional testing may be required for some applicants. Testing would be requested by the admissions office.

The application process will close on March 1, 2023.

Offers of admission for early enrollment will be released the week of April 3, 2023.