Project Lead The Way
College Credit in Project Lead the Way Courses
at Iowa Regent Universities
The University of Iowa (UI) and Iowa State University (ISU) provide the opportunity to receive college credit for Project Lead the Way (PLTW) courses. Credit is offered for all eight PLTW pre-engineering courses:
- Introduction to Engineering Design
- Principles of Engineering
- Digital Electronics
- Civil Engineering and Architecture
- Biotechnology Engineering
- Computer Integrated Manufacturing
- Aerospace Engineering
- Engineering Design & Development
Why should students apply for college level credit?
There are many reasons why earning college level credit for PLTW courses is beneficial. They include:
- Sense of achievement as the students are recognized for earning collegiate level work.
- Credit can be directly applied to college graduation requirements, reducing the amount of hours required, and potentially reducing the amount of time spent to earn the degree.
- Credit earned can increase the student’s registration priority for collegiate level courses. When the student is in college, this will allow them to register for other courses earlier than their peers.
- Credit earned has a financial advantage:
- The cost for PLTW credit is $100 or $150 for 3 semester hours (s.h.)
- Current cost of 3 s.h. course at UI or ISU is more than $1,000 for tuition and fees for Iowa residents.
How does a student become eligible for credit?
Any student, who has met the following requirements is eligible for collegiate-level credit.
- The student’s high school is certified in PLTW program
- The student has earned a grade of 85% or higher on any PLTW courses
- Final Exam Parts A & C have a combined score of 70% or higher. (Final exam Part B is used for high school credit, if the teacher decides to administer it.)
Students qualify, now what?
- The student and a parent/legal guardian will need to complete and sign the “Application for Credit”.
- On this form, the applicant will indicate which university (UI or ISU) they would like the credit to be issued from.
- If the student selects ISU, then $100 needs to accompany the application form.
- If the student selects UI, then a bill for $150 will be sent at a later date (see below)
- The teacher completes and signs the “Grade Verification” form.
- The teacher includes Part C of the student’s end of term exam. PLTW Iowa will then verify the grades and validate whether or not the student successfully complete the requirements.
- All materials, regardless of what university the credit is to be granted, are to be sent to:
Rebecca Whitaker
College of Engineering
The University of Iowa
3124 Seamans Center
Iowa City, Iowa 52242-1527
- Note: To avoid confusion and amount of envelopes received, please put all student materials (“Application for Credit” forms, “Grade Verification” forms, and Part C) in the same envelope. We would appreciate receiving one large envelope from a high school, which contains all of the applications, instead of multiple envelopes with one application each.
What’s the difference between the credit earned at The University of Iowa (UI) and Iowa State University (ISU)?
Choosing to receive credit from UI or ISU can be a very tough decision. Below is a comparison of each university’s programs and how they accept and apply PLTW credit.
The University of Iowa
Credit is earned and made official as soon as the grades are verified. The credit is then added to the student’s permanent record at The University of Iowa. There is a fee of $150, per course, which covers the tuition of the course. Successful students will receive a bill from the UI Cashier’s Office, at which time they submit payment. Congratulatory letters and a non-official copy of the student’s transcript will then be sent to the student after the university’s semester has concluded.
If a student does not qualify for credit, (i.e. if their scores do not meet the minimum requirements) the credit will not be earned, it will not be added to their transcript, and they will not be required to pay the $150 course fee.
Students who have successfully earned credit at the UI have the flexibility to have the credit transferred into any college or university they chose to apply to. Please note, that each college and university, and each academic program, (including those at UI) establishes its own policies for accepting transfer credit.
Iowa State University:
Credit is earned after the student completes one semester at ISU. Until the credit is earned, the credit is not transferrable. There is a fee of $100 per course, and it is non-refundable. Payment is due at the time of submitting the application. Once again, students must enroll at ISU to receive the PLTW credit.
Specific rules and regulations (the fine print)
Since the students are receiving college credit for college-level work, there are certain rules that must be followed by every PLTW-certified school to ensure the integrity of the exam and process:
- The final course exam must be given exactly as it is provided by PLTW.
- Exams may not be altered in any way. PLTW Iowa requires that graded exams (Part C) be submitted for review with the applications.
- Students must take the exam immediately at the conclusion of the course.
- Students cannot decide, later in their high school career, that they want to receive credit for a course taken in previous years.
- Teachers may not tutor their students after they have completed the course or give the exam after a tutoring session.
- Current exams may not be used for review in the classroom. PLTW provides previous exams for the review process.
These rules are in place to ensure that the college credit process is handled equally in all PLTW-certified schools, that all the students are tested based on the same curriculum and exam questions, and that those students receive credit based on the curriculum and knowledge in place at the time the course is taken.
Application Deadlines
Below are the various deadlines for students who want to apply for credit.
| PLTW High school courses have been completed prior to: | Application submission deadline (of same academic year) |
The student will be admitted during the following semester: | Letters will be sent out by: |
|---|---|---|---|
January 1 |
January 1 |
Spring session (Jan-May) |
Late May |
End of school year |
July 1 |
Summer session (May-August) |
Mid-August |
In other states with PLTW programs, numerous students have been accepted at the college of their choice partly because of their success in the challenging PLTW pre-engineering courses. We invite you to consider this worthwhile and valuable option.
For additional information contact us at pltwiowa@gmail.com.
Sincerely,
David G. Rethwisch Camille Sloan-Schroeder
Co-Affiliate Director PLTW Iowa Co-Affiliate Director PLTW Iowa University of Iowa Iowa State University
Project Lead the Way College Credit Usage at The University of Iowa
The University of Iowa academic departments and colleges evaluate the acceptability of the credits for Project Lead the Way courses in the same manner in which they evaluate all transfer credits. The following table summarizes the current credit usage in the primary colleges that admit undergraduate students (the Colleges of Engineering, Liberal Arts, and Business).
PLTW Course |
Univ. of Iowa | College of Engineering* | College of Liberal Arts | College of Business |
|---|---|---|---|---|
57:030 Introduction to Engineering Design (IED) |
3 s.h. |
Both IED and POE count for 59:005 Engineering Problem Solving I (3 s.h.) – the introductory course required of all incoming engineering students. |
Free Elective |
Free Elective |
57:031 Principles of Engineering (POE) |
3 s.h. |
Free Elective |
Free Elective |
|
57:032 Digital Electronics (DE) |
3 s.h. |
- |
Free Elective |
Free Elective |
57:033 Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) |
3 s.h. |
- |
Free Elective |
Free Elective |
57:034 Civil Engineering and Architecture (CEA) |
3 s.h. |
53:015 Civil & Environmental Engineering Practice (2 s.h.) - required course for all civil engineering students. |
Free Elective |
Free Elective |
57:035 Aerospace Engineering (AE) |
3 s.h. |
- |
Free Elective |
Free Elective |
57:036 Biotechnical Engineering (BE) |
3 s.h. |
Elective for Chemical Engineering biochemical focus area. |
Free Elective |
Free Elective |
57:039 Engineering Design and Development (EDD) |
3 s.h. |
- |
Free Elective |
Free Elective |
*Although The University of Iowa will count all PLTW credit, the College of Engineering will only use the credit for IED, POE, CEA and BE.
Information for Iowa State University will be added as it becomes available.