Our Courses Your Way – Details
TPS Credit or No TPS Credit
- Every course offered by TPS (except AP® courses, due to College Board requirements) may be taken for TPS Credit or in No TPS Credit (i.e., no TPS transcript) status.
- No TPS Credit (i.e., no TPS transcript) status is ideal for students who want to fully benefit from the course instruction, evaluation, and feedback but will report it on a homeschool transcript. The credit-based requirements (e.g., exam proctoring, lateness penalties) are waived.
- There is no difference in course content, assignment content, evaluation, feedback — every student gets the same excellent instruction, evaluation, and feedback.
- TPS Credit is required only for students intending to list the course on a transcript or application as a TPS course. It is required for a TPS transcript or official record, but not for your own homeschool transcript.
- You choose the credit status when you enroll.
- You may request to change it, subject to limitations (see below). The default is TPS Credit status, which has more requirements but is easier to change later.
- College Dual Credit courses do not provide this option when you enroll, but you may request it. We are happy to provide it, and we want to protect you by first confirming you are intentionally waiving the college credit.
How should I decide the credit status for my TPS course?
The choice is essentially whether you want the option of receiving an official (accredited) TPS transcript for the course, or you will report it yourself as you prefer on a homeschool transcript that does not reference TPS. Please review our transcripts information to help you decide if the benefits of the TPS transcript are helpful for your individual requirements and goals. Review the table below to understand the specific differences between taking the course in TPS Credit or No TPS Credit (i.e., no TPS transcript) status.
If you are still uncertain after reviewing all this information, we recommend starting in TPS Credit status because you may change this later if you decide differently. After the course has started, it becomes impossible to change from No TPS Credit (i.e., no TPS transcript) to TPS Credit status.
Detailed Similarities and Differences Between TPS Credit and No TPS Credit Status
| Course Feature | TPS Credit | No TPS Credit |
|---|---|---|
| Prerequisites (current course) | Must meet all posted prerequisites (unmodified) | Must meet all posted prerequisites (unmodified) |
| Prerequisites (next course) | May be used to satisfy Prerequisite(s) of next level courses. | Cannot be used as prerequisite for next level courses. Readiness (placement) exams and essays will be required. |
| Course content and instruction | Full / Unmodified | Full / Unmodified |
| Evaluation of submitted assignments | Full / Unmodified | Full / Unmodified |
| Feedback on submitted assignments | Full / Unmodified | Full / Unmodified |
| Weekly Assignment and Grade Reports | Full / Unmodified | Full / Unmodified |
| Assignment lateness and resubmit penalties | Applied | Waived |
| Assignment 5-day late limit | Yes (unsubmitted receives zero) | Yes (unsubmitted is waived (NS)) |
| Exam proctoring by parent using TPS guidelines (HS and MS courses) | Required | Optional |
| Calculated course grade available | Yes | Yes (calculated only from submitted assignments, no penalties applied) |
| TPS Transcript | TPS transcript available (signed, accredited) | TPS transcript not available |
| Homeschool Transcript | Complete information provided for homeschool transcript | Complete information provided for homeschool transcript |
| Switch credit status? | Switch from TPS Credit to No TPS Credit is supported (except AP courses) | Switch from No TPS Credit to TPS Credit is not supported after start of course |