High school students in CUSD are eligible to enroll in community college classes through the concurrent enrollment partnership with Saddleback College. 

Students can enroll in any Saddleback course at no cost (other than minimal health and book fees that apply for certain courses) as long as they meet any prerequisites. Courses can be taken for personal enrichment or to satisfy the A-G requirements, such as visual arts (VAPA), and can be completed during the summer, fall, and/or spring semesters. 

Saddleback courses involving core subjects such as science, math, history, and English can not be taken to meet the graduation requirements, but can be taken for enrichment purposes or to earn General Education credit. However, California state law restricts high school students’ enrollment in Kinesiology courses which include all physical education courses and sports. 

A Saddleback class can not be used to satisfy the minimum number of required classes for a student’s grade level (6 for freshmen and sophomores and 5 for juniors and seniors).

“This program is designed to enhance, not replace, the regular school experience,” says a statement on Saddleback College’s website. 

Many students have taken advantage of the program in order to find classes that better suit their personal interests or plans for the future. 

Yusuf Ahmed, junior, has taken an astronomy course and an architecture course at Saddleback with the concurrent enrollment program. “I definitely enjoyed both classes very much. The architecture teacher was a real architect and the astronomy teacher had many years of experience in astronomy prior to teaching,” said Ahmed. 

Participation in concurrent enrollment can provide a significant head start on college coursework and, in some cases, provide elective credit towards high school graduation. 

“I had a student several years ago who was a go-getter and he would go between Saddleback and IVC [Irvine Valley College] and take what was offered. When he graduated from high school, he was only a few credits short of fulfilling his General Education requirements,” said Lisa Cassarino, academic advisor at SJHHS. 

To sign up, the student must first complete an Application for Admission on Saddleback’s website in order to obtain an ID number for the school. 

Then, one must obtain a K-12 Special Admission Request form signed by their academic advisor to ensure that taking a course at Saddleback would best fit the student’s needs. After approval by the academic advisor, the form must be completed with the student’s personal information and Saddleback ID. 

The form then needs to be hand-carried to the admissions office at Saddleback for verification and the necessary classes will be unlocked and made free of charge by an admissions officer. 

After verification, the student must register for their classes on their MySite account on or after their assigned registration time. 

While high school students do not have priority in getting spots in the classes, there are generally no problems in getting admitted into most courses. 

“I would definitely recommend taking a few Saddleback courses. It is a good way to get ahead in credits, to pursue a passion, or just to uncover a new experience,” said Ahmed.