Andrew · Junior year · Oxbridge Academy

Andrew's College Credit Plan

You can take real college classes at FAU right now, while you're still at Oxbridge — and not pay tuition for them. Here's exactly how, in order. The second half of this page is written for Mom and Dad.

Sept 21 →
Nov 6, 2026

This is the only window that matters right now. That's when FAU accepts applications for Spring 2027 classes. Summer and Fall 2026 are both closed. If you miss this one, the next chance is next fall. Everything on this page is aimed at that date.

Why this is worth doing

It's free

FAU waives tuition, registration, and lab fees. You'll owe a one-time $10 Owl Card fee and a transportation fee each semester — that's it.

It counts everywhere in Florida

The credits transfer to every public university in the state — UF, FSU, UCF, FAU. That's guaranteed by state law, not a favor.

You start college ahead

Classes you finish now are classes you don't take (or pay for) later. Some students show up to college with a semester already done.

0 of 7 steps done

The seven steps

Do these in order. Steps 2 through 5 all have to be finished before step 6 will work.

  1. Email your college counselor at Oxbridge

    You already have one — you've had the same one since 9th grade. This is literally their job, and they walk students through this application all the time. You're not asking for a favor.

    Tell them you want to do dual enrollment at FAU for Spring 2027, and ask for the Permission Form . There's a message written for you further down this page — you can copy and paste it.

    Oxbridge College Counseling
  2. Find out your unweighted GPA

    FAU requires a 3.0 unweighted cumulative GPA for grades 10–12. "Unweighted" means the plain average, before Honors classes give you any bonus points. It's usually lower than the GPA you normally hear — so check the right number, don't assume.

    Ask your counselor or the registrar. This is the one requirement you can't fix with paperwork, so find out early.

  3. Confirm you've finished 4 high school credits

    Including at least one English and one math. You're a junior, so you almost certainly have this — but it's an actual requirement, and your transcript has to show it clearly, so confirm it rather than assume it.

  4. Take one placement test — and hit every score on it

    You have to meet all the minimums on a single test. FAU says flatly that scores cannot be mixed and matched across tests. Pick one and clear the whole thing.

    PERT — Reading 106 · Writing 103 · Math 114
    SAT — Reading & Writing 490 · Math 480
    ACT — Reading 19 · English 17 · Math 19
    CLT — Reading/Verbal 38 · Math 16
    Accuplacer — Reading 256 · Writing 253 · Math 261

    Worth knowing: the SAT bar here is only 490 and 480, which is a lot lower than most people expect. If you're planning to take the SAT anyway, one sitting can clear this and count toward Bright Futures scholarship money. Ask your counselor about the PERT too — it's the fastest option and Oxbridge can usually arrange it.

    Your scores have to be from within two years of when the semester starts.

    FAU's full requirements
  5. Get the Permission Form signed — by two people

    Oxbridge signs this. It's the school formally approving the specific courses you want to take. Make sure you get the non-public / private school version — there are different forms for public-school, Broward, and private students.

    Start this first, not last. Your form needs both a principal's signature and a counselor's signature. FAU warns twice that applications which arrive late because signatures took too long are simply not accepted. Two signatures at a busy school is the slowest part of this whole process.

    The private-school form (PDF)
  6. Apply to FAU and upload everything to OwlDocs

    Fill out the Online Registration Form (it's called the Non-Degree Application). When it asks for your admission category, pick Dual Enrollment not "First Time in College."

    Then upload everything to the OwlDocs Portal at the same time : the application, your signed Permission Form, proof of your GPA, and proof of your test scores. FAU marks split submissions incomplete. Don't email them. FAU states that documents sent by email will not be accepted, and that late or incomplete applications cannot be processed.

    Once it's in, watch your new FAU email account — every update comes there, and FAU says checking it is your responsibility, not theirs.

    FAU Dual Enrollment — start here
  7. Register for one class. Just one.

    You're allowed up to 8 credit hours in fall or spring — about two classes — and 4 in summer. Take one your first semester anyway.

    Here's the part nobody tells you: your grade in this class goes on a permanent college transcript at FAU. Every college you apply to later will see it. And Oxbridge does not count dual enrollment grades in your Oxbridge GPA — so a good grade won't lift your school average, but a bad one still follows you around. You also have to earn a C or better to stay in the program at all: a C− or lower and FAU won't let you continue. One class, done well, beats three done badly.

    How registration works

Copy this to your counselor

You can send it exactly as written, or change it to sound more like you.

CLEP — turning classes you’re already taking into credit

Dual enrollment means driving to FAU and taking an extra class on top of your Oxbridge schedule. CLEP is the opposite. It gives you college credit for a subject you have already studied — you just prove you know it by passing one exam.

That matters here for a specific reason. Oxbridge’s Honors Seminars are taught, in the school’s own words, with “advanced college-level curriculum.” The teaching is already college level. The only thing missing is a piece of paper saying so. A CLEP exam is that piece of paper.

The move: when you study for your final in one of these classes, you are already studying for the CLEP. Sit the CLEP within a week or two of that final, while everything is still in your head. One round of studying, two results.

Your classes, and the exam each one lines up with

Oxbridge Honors Seminar CLEP exam
English 2 — American Literature American Literature
English 3 — British Literature English Literature
English 4 — Great Books American Literature or English Literature (Florida grants no credit for Analyzing & Interpreting Literature)
U.S. History History of the United States I & II
U.S. Government American Government
Economics Principles of Macroeconomics · Microeconomics
Calculus Calculus
Biology Biology
Chemistry Chemistry
Spanish / French / Chinese 5 Spanish, French or Chinese Language
British History · Tyranny & Democracy Western Civilization I & II (partial overlap)
Forensic Psychology Introductory Psychology (partial overlap)

Multivariable Calculus, Differential Equations and A.I. & Computational Modeling have no CLEP equivalent — they sit above the level CLEP tests.

Where you actually take it

Worth knowing: PBSC’s dual enrollment is closed to you, because it only takes Palm Beach County public and charter students. Its testing center doesn’t care where you go to school.

The practical facts

Cost — $97 exam + $15 proctoring at PBSC ($112 total)
When — year-round, no fixed dates; you pick a slot with the center
How — register and pay at College Board first, then book the seat
Retakes — you must wait 90 days to retake the same exam

The 90-day rule is the reason to pair it with a final rather than to wing it. You get one clean shot per subject per term, so take it when you are at your sharpest on the material.

Don’t CLEP a subject you’re dual enrolling in

FAU won’t grant CLEP credit if you have already completed a more advanced course in that same subject. So point the two engines at different subjects — dual enrollment at one, CLEP at the others. Decide which is which before you register for either.

The honest limit. CLEP is excellent for Florida public universities — UF, FSU, UCF and FAU each accept 32 different CLEP exams. Selective private and out-of-state schools often accept none of it, and a CLEP score is not a rigor signal to an admissions officer the way a hard class on your transcript is. So use CLEP to clear general-education requirements, not to build your application.

Andrew’s two windows

Four exams this year, each one sat right after the final in that subject. Work backward from the dates — the Modern States course has to be finished before the voucher exists.

When Do this
Oct – Nov Modern States courses for Spanish Language and Precalculus
Late Nov Request both vouchers · buy the two $10 College Board practice tests
Jan 5 – 13 Semester 1 finals period at school
Week of Jan 18 Practice tests cold. 65+ → book. Then sit both at PBSC.
Feb – Apr Modern States courses for Biology and Literature
Early May Request both vouchers · buy the practice tests
May 28 Semester 2 ends
Early June Practice tests, then sit both
January — Spanish Language (aim 63 , worth 6 credits) · Precalculus (3)
June — Biology (3) · American or English Literature (3)
Year total 15 credits if Spanish lands at 63, 12 if it lands at 50

Precalculus is this January or never

FAU won’t grant CLEP credit for a subject once you’ve completed a more advanced course in it. Take Calculus senior year without doing this first and the Precalculus credit is gone for good. It is the one exam on this page with a hard expiry.

Do it in this order

This is the whole sequence for one exam. Everything before test day is free.

The two windows, from Oxbridge’s own calendar: semester 1 ends Wednesday, January 13, 2027 — not in December, because winter break falls in the middle of the semester and school runs Jan 5–13. Semester 2 ends Friday, May 28, 2027 . So the two testing windows are mid-to-late January and June , each right after finals while the material is still fresh.

0 of 12 done
  1. Make a free Modern States account

    modernstates.org. Anyone 13 or older. No cost and no card — this is the thing that makes the exam free.

    Modern States
  2. Enroll in the course that matches your class

    Pick the Modern States course for the subject you’re already taking — Spanish, Precalculus, Biology, whichever one you’re aiming at.

  3. Finish the course: 75% on the quizzes and 75% on the final

    That’s the bar for the voucher, and you can retake either one. It isn’t meant to be hard — it’s meant to prove you did the work.

  4. Request your voucher

    From the Modern States dashboard. They pay the $97 exam fee straight to College Board and email you a code.

    Timing matters: the code expires 6 months after it’s issued. Request it about a month before you plan to test, not the day you finish the course.

  5. Buy the official $10 practice test

    College Board’s own practice exam for that subject. People who have taken both say it’s the closest thing to the real test — much closer than the Modern States practice, which runs easy.

  6. Take your school final

    Don’t study separately for the CLEP. Studying for the final is studying for the CLEP. That’s the entire point of doing it now.

  7. Sit the $10 practice test within a few days — cold

    No cramming first. You want an honest number while the class is still fresh.

    The rule: score 65 or higher → book the real exam. Lower → wait for the next window. You only get one attempt every 90 days, so don’t burn it on a maybe.

  8. Register at College Board and enter the voucher code

    Make a My CLEP account, register for that exact exam, and put the voucher code in at checkout. Your total should be $0 .

    Register for a CLEP exam
  9. Book the seat at Palm Beach State

    North Campus, 3160 PGA Blvd. Call 561-207-5360 and pay the $15 proctoring fee through PBSC eMarket before test day. Aim for the week after semester 1 ends — mid-to-late January .

  10. Test day

    Bring a government photo ID and your registration ticket, and get there 15 minutes early.

    No watches, hoodies, or jackets — they aren’t allowed in the room. Testing centers run cold, so wear a sweater, not a hoodie.

  11. Read your score before you leave

    Multiple-choice CLEPs score on screen the moment you finish. 50 passes and Florida must grant the credit. On Spanish, push for 63 — that doubles it from 3 credits to 6.

  12. Send Modern States your receipt

    Upload the PBSC proctoring receipt and they reimburse up to $20 of it. At that point the exam has cost you nothing.

Find a test center CLEP home

Two things that can cost you

Don't take a college class the summer after you graduate

Everything you earn while you're still in high school is free and keeps you counted as a freshman — that's true even if you rack up a lot of credits. But one college class taken after you graduate and before you start college can reclassify you as a transfer student, and transfer students lose access to freshman scholarships. Summer 2028: no college classes.

Make sure Oxbridge actually sends your Bright Futures transcript

Public high schools send transcripts to the Bright Futures system automatically. Private schools like Oxbridge have to enter them by hand . If nobody does it, you can qualify for the money and still not receive it. In fall of senior year, ask the registrar directly to confirm your transcript, final grades, and service hours were submitted.

From here down — for Mom & Dad

The full Florida pathway

Junior and senior year at Oxbridge, built around the two things that actually move: college credit earned before graduation, and the counseling you're already paying for but may not be fully using.

Start here: Oxbridge already does most of this

Before hiring anyone, it's worth knowing that Oxbridge's college counseling office is unusually built out — and a large part of what an outside consultant would charge $5,000–$20,000 for is already included in tuition.

What's already included

  • A dedicated college counselor assigned since 9th grade
  • Practice SAT and ACT administered in-house, plus advice on which test fits him — that's the diagnostic you'd otherwise pay for
  • They walk students through all steps of the dual enrollment application
  • Bright Futures advising and community-service hour documentation
  • 80+ college admissions officers on campus each year; 8 student-parent forums annually

What Oxbridge does not have

  • No AICE program. This closes Florida's best loophole — an AICE Diploma grants 100% Bright Futures tuition with no test score at all. Not available to him.
  • No AP track as such. Oxbridge runs Regular → Honors → Honors Seminar, its own "equivalent to or beyond AP" tier. Rigorous, but it produces no automatic college credit.

The credit engines, ranked

Dual enrollment is the main one, but it isn't the only one — and the other two don't depend on Oxbridge offering anything.

01

Dual enrollment at FAU

tuition, registration & lab fees waived

Oxbridge holds a dual enrollment articulation agreement with Florida Atlantic — confirmed on FAU's executed-agreement list , filed under Palm Beach. That agreement is what makes Andrew eligible as a private-school student, and it is the single highest-value thing available to him.

  • Credits transfer across every Florida public university under statewide articulation
  • You still owe the one-time $10 Owl Card fee and a recurring Transportation Access Fee — everything academic is waived
  • Oxbridge grants high school credit for it, but DE grades are excluded from his Oxbridge GPA
  • Capped at 8 credits fall/spring, 4 in summer, and 60 credit hours lifetime at FAU
  • Eligibility is redetermined every single term — a fresh application each semester, and materials never roll over
02

CLEP and self-registered AP exams

~$95–$100 per exam · no school program needed

This is the answer to "but it's only FAU." The CLEP section above maps it exam by exam against his actual courses. Dual enrollment is the only route that runs through the school — these two don't. Neither CLEP nor an AP exam cares what courses Oxbridge offers or what agreements it holds. He registers as an individual candidate and sits the exam.

  • UF, FSU, and FAU each accept 32 different CLEP exams ; one exam can clear a whole general-education requirement
  • He can sit an AP exam in May without ever taking an AP course — relevant precisely because Oxbridge has no AP track. Honors Seminar work is often enough preparation in a subject he's strong in.
  • FAU caps combined AICE/AP/IB/CLEP credit at 45 semester hours — a ceiling worth knowing, not one he'll hit soon
  • The trade-off: no GPA and no rigor story, and selective private and out-of-state schools often accept none of it
  • Best used as cleanup — senior spring, for requirements dual enrollment didn't cover
03

Honors Seminar

rigor signal, no credit

Oxbridge's top tier, offered mainly in 11th and 12th grade to students who've done well at Honors level. It's the transcript signal an admissions officer reads for rigor — but it converts to zero college credit, so it complements the two above rather than replacing them. It does count in his Oxbridge GPA, unlike dual enrollment.

Cambridge AICE Diploma

closed to him

Worth knowing what you're giving up: an AICE Diploma plus 100 service hours automatically earns Florida Academic Scholar regardless of SAT or ACT. It's a Palm Beach County public-school offering — Palm Beach Central runs one. Oxbridge does not, so for Andrew the Bright Futures top tier has to come through a test score instead.

What the money looks like

Award How Andrew would earn it Worth
Benacquisto National Merit — PSAT selection index ≈216–219 in FL Full in-state cost of attendance, ~$16k–$25k/yr
Bright Futures — FAS SAT 1330 / ACT 29 + 3.5 weighted GPA 100% tuition & fees
Bright Futures — FMS SAT 1190 / ACT 24 + 3.0 weighted GPA 75% tuition & fees
FAU dual enrollment 3.0 unweighted GPA + placement scores Tuition, registration, lab fees waived

Because AICE is off the table at Oxbridge, the test score is the only route to the top Bright Futures tier. The National Merit selection index is (Reading & Writing × 2 + Math) ÷ 10; Florida's semifinalist cutoff was 219 for the class of 2026 and 216 for 2027, with national Commended at 208. Andrew's class-of-2028 cutoff isn't published — 216 is the working estimate.

Service hours. 75 volunteer hours, or 100 hours of paid work. Hours count all the way back to the summer after 8th grade, so anything already done can be claimed retroactively — Oxbridge documents these.

The calendar

This week
Email the college counselor Ask for the non-public Permission Form and start the two signatures moving. Confirm the FAU agreement is active for 2026–27, and ask them to schedule the PERT.
Mon Sep 21 2026
FAU window opens OwlDocs accepts Spring 2027 applications. Submit every document together.
Oct 2026
PSAT/NMSQT The only administration that counts for National Merit, and therefore the only path to Benacquisto. Confirm Oxbridge's exact date.
Fri Nov 6 2026
FAU window closes Hard deadline. Late or incomplete applications are not processed, and materials do not roll over to a later term.
Spring 2027
First FAU course + build the college list One course. Meanwhile: UF and the entire Florida public system require test scores again, so the testing plan and the college list are the same conversation.
By June 2027
Finish testing 1330 SAT / 29 ACT is the Florida Academic Scholar line. Being done by June of junior year leaves senior fall for applications rather than retakes.
Summer 2027
Essays The one window where outside help genuinely adds something Oxbridge's caseload may not cover in depth. Budget 5–8 hours at $500–$1,500 — not the $5k–$20k packages.
Oct 1 2027
Florida Financial Aid Application opens This is the Bright Futures application itself. Missing it forfeits every dollar above regardless of what he earned. Confirm the Oxbridge registrar submitted his transcript.
Summer 2028
Take no college credit Post-diploma, pre-matriculation. See the first trap above.

So do you need to hire anyone?

Mostly no — and that's the honest read given what Oxbridge includes. A dedicated counselor from 9th grade, in-house practice SAT and ACT with test-fit advice, dual enrollment application support, Bright Futures advising, service-hour documentation, and 80+ colleges on campus a year covers most of what a paid consultant sells.

Two real gaps: a subject tutor if the GPA wobbles anywhere near the 3.0 unweighted line, and essay help in summer 2027 . Essay coaching runs $50–$500/hr with packages from $1,500 to $36,000; the useful band here is 5–8 hours at $500–$1,500. It's a summer-2027 purchase, not a now purchase.