PACE Program - Pathway To Access College Early
History of PACE
The implementation of the Pathway to Access College Early (PACE) Program began in 2016, aligned to the Five Characteristics of Marianist Education. Today over 100 Advanced College Credits are offered through the PACE Program, allowing many students to earn 60+ college credits to transfer to their chosen university upon graduation. The PACE Program has uniquely differentiated Chaminade as a leader in Advanced College Credit Programs among high schools locally, nationally, and internationally.
PACE Mission
The mission is to offer Chaminade students:
• A premier option to earn college credit through enrollment in Advanced College Credit high school courses from nationally accredited university programs,
• An opportunity to experience an introduction to college-level expectations while in high school taught by authorized Chaminade Adjunct University Instructors for our partner universities, and
• An opportunity to engage in a robust and rigorous university course experience through challenging college-level curriculum while in high school.
ACC Benefits for Chaminade Students
While there are many benefits for students to participate in the PACE Program, official data from Chaminade alumni surveys from the Classes of 2017-2023, confirms the following:
- Allowing students access to enroll in college credit courses while in high school significantly reduces the tuition cost,
- Offering up to two years of college coursework on the Chaminade’s campus allows for the transfer of these credits to a student’s final college choice upon graduation,
- Earning college credit while in high school allows an early entry into an Undergraduate Degree Program and completion before the traditional four years,
- Earning college credit while in high school provides the opportunity for students to earn a Master’s Degree within the traditional four years,
- Earning college credit while in high school provides the opportunity for students to Double Major within the traditional four years, and
- Earning college credit while in high school provides the opportunity for students to pursue a Gap Year and graduate within the traditional four years.
Commonly Used Terms
Elective Credit: Reducing the number of courses the student must complete on campus in order to graduate by transferring the ACC courses as “elective” credit because the receiving university does not have a course that matches the course the ACC student is transferring. In that case, the student can count the hours toward graduation but may still need to take a course that is similar to, but not the same as, the advanced college credit course.
Exempt Credit: Allowing the student to be exempt from taking certain courses required for freshmen and sophomores, including introductory courses in core subjects.
Prerequisite Credit: Allowing the ACC transfer credit to count for prerequisites for their major or minor fields of study.
ACC POLICIES, GRADE SCALES AND STUDENT ELIGIBILITY
Academic Policies
Grading, Scales, and Transcripts
Student Eligibility at 3 Universities
ACC GRADE-LEVEL COURSE OPPORTUNITIES
Grade 12
45 ACC Courses Offered to Students in Grade 12
Classical and Modern Languages
CHI370 ACC Honors Chinese 3 w. SLU
CHI470 ACC Honors Chinese 4 w. SLU
CHI570 AP/ACC Chinese Language & Culture w. SLU
FRE370 ACC Honors French 3 w. SLU or UMSL
FRE470 ACC Honors French 4 w. SLU or UMSL
LAT370 ACC Latin w. SLU
LAT470 ACC Honors Latin 4 w. SLU
LAT570 AP/ACC Latin w. SLU
SPA370 ACC Honors Spanish 3 w. SLU or UMSL
SPA470 ACC Honors Spanish 4 w. SLU or UMSL
SPA570 AP/ACC Spanish Language & Culture w. SLU or UMSL
English
ENG470 ACC World Literature and Composition w. UMSL
ENG471 AP/ACC English Literature and Composition w. SLU
Fine Arts
WDE470 ACC Wind Ensemble w. UMSL
JZE470 ACC Jazz Ensemble w. UMSL
MUS470 AP/ACC Music Theory w. UMSL
DRA470 ACC Advanced Drama II w. UMSL
PSP470 ACC Public Speaking w. UMSL
ART270 ACC Drawing I w. UMSL
ART370 ACC Advanced Drawing II and Printmaking w. UMSL
ART371 ACC Painting I w. UMSL
ART471 ACC Painting II w. UMSL
ART372 ACC Digital Imaging I w. UMSL
ART472 ACC Digital Imaging II w. UMSL
CER470 ACC Ceramics I w. UMSL
CER475 ACC Ceramics II w. UMSL
Mathematics
CAL470 ACC Pre-Calculus and Trigonometry w. UMSL
ALG470 ACC College Algebra w. UMSL
CAL471 AP/ACC Calculus AB w. UMSL
CAL472 AP/ACC Calculus BC w. UMSL
STA470 AP/ACC Statistics w. UMSL
Practical Arts
ACC470 ACC Financial Accounting w. UMSL
ECO471 AP/ACC Macroeconomics w. MBU
ECO472 ACC Principles of Microeconomics w. MBU
LAW470 ACC Business Law w. UMSL
Science
CHE470 AP/ACC Chemistry w. UMSL
ENV470 AP/ACC Environmental Science w. SLU
PHY470 AP/ACC Honors Physics 1 w. SLU or UMSL
PHY471 AP/ACC Honors Physics 2 w. SLU
Social Studies
SST470 ACC Contemporary Global Issues w. UMSL
SST471 AP/ACC U.S. Government/Comparative Government w. SLU
PSY470 AP/ACC Psychology w. UMSL
SST473 ACC Pluralism in American History w. UMSL
Theology
THE470 ACC God-Talk: Ultimate Questions in Theology w. SLU
THE472 ACC An Exploration of Faith and Reason w. SLU
Grade 11
35 ACC Courses Offered to Students in Grade 11
Classical and Modern Languages
CHI370 ACC Honors Chinese 3 w. SLU
CHI470 ACC Honors Chinese 4 w. SLU
FRE370 ACC Honors French 3 w. SLU or UMSL
FRE470 ACC Honors French 4 w. SLU or UMSL
LAT370 ACC Latin 3 w. SLU
LAT470 ACC Honors Latin 4 w. SLU
SPA370 ACC Honors Spanish 3 w. SLU or UMSL
SPA470 ACC Honors Spanish 4 w. SLU or UMSL
English
ENG370 ACC Composition/Literature w. SLU
ENG371 AP/ACC English Language/Composition w. SLU
Fine Arts
WDE470 ACC Wind Ensemble w. UMSL
JZE470 ACC Jazz Ensemble w. UMSL
MUS470 AP/ACC Music Theory w. UMSL
PSP470 ACC Public Speaking w. UMSL
ART270 ACC Drawing I w. UMSL
ART370 ACC Advanced Drawing II and Printmaking w. UMSL
ART371 ACC Painting I w. UMSL
ART471 ACC Painting II w. UMSL
ART372 ACC Digital Imaging I w. UMSL
ART472 ACC Digital Imaging II w. UMSL
CER470 ACC Ceramics I w. UMSL
CER475 ACC Ceramics II w. UMSL
Mathematics
CAL470 ACC Pre-Calculus/Trigonometry w. UMSL
CAL370 ACC Honors PreCalculus/Trigonometry w. UMSL
Practical Arts
ACC470 ACC Financial Accounting w. UMSL
ECO471 AP/ACC Macroeconomics w. MBU
ECO472 ACC Principles of Microeconomics w. MBU
LAW470 ACC Business Law w. UMSL
Science
CHE470 AP/ACC Chemistry w. UMSL
ENV470 AP/ACC Environmental Science w. SLU
PHY470 AP/ACC Honors Physics 1 w. SLU or UMSL
PHY471 AP/ACC Honors Physics 2 w. SLU
Social Studies
SST370 ACC Survey of U.S. History w. SLU or UMSL
SST371 AP/ACC U.S. History w. SLU or UMSL
Theology
THE370 ACC Interreligious Issues w. UMSL
Grade 10
13 ACC Courses Offered to Students in Grade 10
Classical and Modern Languages
CHI370 ACC Honors Chinese 3 w. SLU
LAT370 ACC Latin 3 w. SLU
SPA370 ACC Honors Spanish 3 w. SLU or UMSL
Fine Arts
WDE470 ACC Wind Ensemble w. UMSL
JZE470 ACC Jazz Ensemble w. UMSL
ART270 ACC Drawing I w. UMSL
ART371 ACC Painting I w. UMSL
ART372 ACC Digital Imaging I w. UMSL
CER470 ACC Ceramics I w. UMSL
Physical Education
PED270 ACC Lifesaving, CPR and First Aid w. MBU
PED271 ACC Lifetime Fitness, First Aid, and Emergency Care w. MBU
Social Studies
SST270 ACC Honors Modern World History w. UMSL
SST271 AP/ACC World History w. UMSL
Grade 9
2 ACC Courses Offered to Students in Grade 9
Fine Arts
WDE470 ACC Wind Ensemble w. UMSL
JZE470 ACC Jazz Ensemble w. UMSL
ACC REGISTRATION AND PAYMENT PROCEDURES
About Registration
Window for Registration
- 1st Semester/FALL August-September
- 2nd Semester/SPRING January-February
Registration Documentation
Payment Procedures
- Payment details are sent to the student in their MyMBU account.
- The registrant may pay their MBU bill by personal check or money order, online through MyMBU, or by phone with a credit card.
- A tuition bill is mailed to the home of the student in the student’s name.
- An email is also sent to the parent at the email address provided on their son’s application.
- Students can login to mySLU and view their invoice through the payment suite under the “Tools” tab.
- After the registration process closes, an initial billing statement is mailed to the student and emailed to the parent.
- Subsequent monthly billing statements are issued until the deadline to pay closes.
- All fees are due and payable as directed on the student's monthly billing statement.
ACC COURSE GUIDES
TRANSFERABILITY GUIDES
Sending Transcripts, Transfer Credits, Guidebooks
Sending Transcripts
Each year Chaminade graduates request the university where they registered for their ACC to send their ACC university transcripts to the university they plan to attend upon graduation. Contact the registrar at each university or visit their online webpage.
Acceptance of Transfer Credits
Based on official survey results, the majority of Chaminade students successfully transfer 1-2 years of college credits to their final university choice. Be aware that the receiving colleges and universities have the final authority as to how to accept the ACC credit.The transferability of ACC Credit varies at the universities Chaminade students attend. Many times advanced college credit earned by a student transfers not only the credit, but also the grade earned may transfer. If the receiving college accepts transfer college credit courses, the college will have a policy to include or not include the course grades in the student’s college GPA.
ADDITIONAL OPTIONS FOR ADVANCED COLLEGE CREDIT
College Board AP Courses
The academic departments that offer AP courses are Classical and Modern Languages, English, Fine Arts, Mathematics, Practical Arts, Science and Social Studies.
Chaminade faculty who teach AP courses are highly trained, participate in College Board professional development and accountable to maintain College Board standards.
- In an AP course, the student must pass the AP end-of-course exam to be eligible to apply for college credit once the student graduates from high school.
- Generally, the student must score a 3, 4, or 5 on the AP exam.
- Students then send their AP scores to each college/university where they plan to attend, and the college/university has the final determination of how much credit they will award for the course.
- There is no standard amount of credit awarded by each college/university for an AP course because specific standards for accepting AP courses as college credit may vary greatly.
- If a college or university awards advanced placement based on your AP Exam scores, that means the student might be able to skip introductory classes and go straight into higher-level classes. It might also mean that the student can skip courses that the college requires students to take to fulfill general education requirements.
Colleges may offer both credit and placement, just credit, or just placement for successful AP scores. The student is encouraged to visit each colleges’ website or talk to an admission officer to find out which kind of recognition is offered.
AP course descriptions are available in the curriculum guide
Please note that the AP exam is required, unless otherwise stated as an optional exam.
AP Biology
AP Calculus AB
AP Calculus BC
AP Chemistry
AP Chinese Language & Culture
AP Comparative Government and Politics (Optional AP Exam)
AP Computer Science Principles
AP Computer Science A
AP English Language and Composition
AP English Literature and Composition
AP Environmental Science (Optional Exam)
AP European History
AP French Language & Culture (Optional AP Exam)
AP Latin (Optional AP Exam)
AP Macroeconomics (Optional AP Exam)
AP Microeconomics (Optional Exam)
AP Music Theory (Optional AP Exam)
AP Honors Physics 1(Optional AP Exam)
AP Honors Physics 2 (Optional AP Exam)
AP Physics C: Mechanics (Optional AP Exam)
AP Physics C: Electricity & Magnetism (Optional AP Exam)
AP Psychology (Optional AP Exam)
AP Spanish Language & Culture (Optional AP Exam)
AP Statistics
AP Studio Art
AP United States Government and Politics
AP United States History
AP World History
Project Lead the Way - PLTW Engineering Courses
- PLTW 13 STEM: Introduction to Engineering Design
- PLTW 23 STEM: Introduction to Engineering Design
- PLTW 33 STEM: Principles of Engineering
- PLTW 43 STEM: Environmental Sustainability
- PLTW 44 STEM: Digital Electronics
- PLTW 45 STEM: Aerospace Engineering