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Consortium and Cross Registration

Consortium and Cross Registration

Sinclair Community College works closely with many other institutions to assist students who want to take classes at other schools simultaneously. There are two types of agreements most commonly executed at Sinclair Community College:

  1. Financial Aid Consortium Agreement
    Financial Aid Consortium Agreement allows a student to enroll at two schools at the same time and receive financial aid to help pay for costs at both schools.
  2. SOCHE Cross-Registration Program
    The SOCHE Cross Registration Program allows a student who is degree-seeking at Sinclair access to academic opportunities at other institutions that are not available at Sinclair and pay Sinclair tuition/fees for the other institution’s course.

Financial Aid Consortium Agreement

Financial Aid Consortium Agreement is a contract between a student, a home school (the school from which the student plans to graduate) and a visiting school (the school the student would like to “visit” and transfer credits back to their home school for degree/certificate completion). This agreement allows the home school to award and disburse the financial aid for a specific enrollment period (such as a term, like Fall or Spring) to help pay for costs incurred while enrolled at a visiting school.

Financial Aid Consortium Agreements are typically useful when a student is only loan eligible, and the combined credit hours at the home and host schools, allow the student to become aid eligible. It is also useful for a student who is a grant or scholarship recipient, who is enrolled less than full-time at the home school, but the combined credit hours at the home school and host school, put the student at full-time enrollment status. If a student is already full-time at Sinclair Community College (12 or more credit hours), this agreement is not necessary and will not be processed.

Sinclair students can take a class at another college or university if:

  • The course is not offered at Sinclair Community College during the current term
  • The course is required for the degree program the student is currently pursuing
  • The student is studying abroad, taking courses required for the degree program the student is currently pursuing

For more information, please review the Consortium Agreement Instructions and full agreement available at Financial Aid Forms.

Students who are planning to take courses using Sinclair as the host school, should speak to a Financial Aid staff member at their home institutions.

SOCHE Cross-Registration Program

The SOCHE Cross Registration Program allows degree-seeking students access to academic opportunities not available at their home institutions to maintain their current home institution program of study. Students enrolled at a college or university within SOCHE may register for courses that are available at other Southwestern Ohio Consortium of Higher Education (SOCHE) and Greater Cincinnati Collegiate Connection (GC3) institutions. All classes, including those offered through distance education, are generally open to Cross Registration with the appropriate approvals.

Desired course(s) must not be available at the home institution during the term the student wishes to enroll and must be course(s) required for the student’s program. Generally, most courses, except study abroad, are eligible—subject to space availability, completion of prerequisite courses, and permission of both the home and the host institutions.

Sinclair students can take a class at another college or university that belongs to the Southwestern Ohio Council for Higher Education (SOCHE) and Greater Cincinnati Collegiate Connection (GC3) if:

  • The course is not offered at Sinclair Community College during the current term
  • The student is taking more or an equal number of hours at Sinclair Community College than at the other school
  • The student meets all prerequisites of the other school, meet that school's deadlines, and has been accepted by that school for enrollment into courses
  • The course is required for the degree program the student is currently pursuing

For a list of participating SOCHE institutions, visit the SOCHE website. For the SOCHE Cross Registration Form and a full explanation of the process visit the SOCHE Cross Registration website.

Interested Sinclair students should take the Cross Registration Form to their Sinclair Academic Advisor for approval, and then the Registration and Student Records office. Once the proper signatures from Sinclair Community College are obtained students will work with the host institution to register for the course(s) that have been approved by Sinclair. The course(s) will be treated as a “native course” in that student will pay Sinclair Community College tuition and fees, and the grade received for the course(s) will be calculated into the Sinclair Community College grade point average.