Mission and History

About NACEP
The National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships is a professional organization for high schools and colleges that advances seamless education through secondary and post-secondary collaborations. NACEP defines concurrent enrollment as transcripted college classes taught by trained high school teachers for both high school and college credit, at their high school, during the regular school day. Established in 1999 in response to the dramatic increase in concurrent enrollment courses throughout the country, NACEP fosters student success and achievement by supporting standards of excellence that promote program and professional development, accreditation, research and advocacy.

Platform

• Support language in Elementary Secondary Education Act (ESEA) to include Concurrent Enrollment programs as a viable form of access to college for all students.
• Support Concurrent Enrollment programs ensuring that ALL students in good standing have equal access to engage in college classes providing academic rigor for a more meaningful high school experience.
• Support access to federal appropriations funding for Concurrent Enrollment programs.
• Support partner institutions in ongoing professional development of high school Concurrent Enrollment instructors in the continuous improvement process.
• Support adherence to an accepted set of national standards that ensure quality Concurrent Enrollment programs.
• Support ongoing, documented research and evaluation of students, faculty, schools, and colleges in Concurrent Enrollment programs to provide continuous program improvement and the most effective state and federal policies.

History
Now in its second decade, NACEP has emerged as the national forum for concurrent enrollment. The first national meeting of the concurrent enrollment professionals who ultimately founded NACEP was convened by Syracuse University at the American Association for Higher Education conference in March 1997. At a meeting in 1999, 20 founding institutions officially established NACEP by adopting bylaws and a mission statement. At the 11 national conferences organized by NACEP to date, concurrent enrollment leaders from around the nation have gathered to share best practices, present research findings, and discuss state policy developments. Since its founding eleven years ago, NACEP has grown to include 180 Postsecondary Institutions located in 32 states, 41 high schools and school districts, and 9 state offices and professional organizations.

A key concern of the leaders who established NACEP was the quality of college classes offered by concurrent enrollment partnerships. NACEP’s members include some of the nation’s oldest and most prominent concurrent enrollment partnerships, who share a common belief that institutions of higher education should follow certain best practices to ensure the quality of college classes taught by high school teachers.

To this end, NACEP adopted national standards in 2002 that include measurable criteria in five categories that are markers of excellent concurrent enrollment programs: curriculum, faculty, students, assessment, and program evaluation. In 2004, the first four concurrent enrollment programs were accredited after a team of peers carefully reviewed documentation on how each program met NACEP’s Standards. There are 57 institutions accredited by NACEP as of October 2010, including: 31 two-year public colleges, 21 four-year public universities, and 5 four-year private colleges and universities. The Standards were revised in December 2009 after two years of member feedback, recommendations from experienced accreditation reviewers, and considerable deliberation by NACEP’s Board of Directors.

A more detailed history can be found here.