Out-of-District Courses

Overview

"Santa Clara Unified School District (SCUSD) supports student choice and academic growth by offering a process for students to request pre-approval for taking courses outside of the district to meet graduation requirements. To ensure alignment with state law and district policies, students may only take out-of-district courses if the equivalent SCUSD course is either not offered or is full at their school. A maximum of four such courses may be taken for graduation credit, and only courses from accredited institutions that are UC/CSU-approved or meet specific criteria will be accepted. Students and parents must complete and submit the “External Course Request” form, which includes principal/designee review and, in certain cases, approval from the Director of Secondary Education. Special considerations apply for 8th graders seeking math acceleration, requiring a meeting with the high school they will attend. SCUSD does not evaluate the curriculum of outside programs, so students are responsible for mastering skipped content—particularly in math and world languages. Additionally, SCUSD does not verify courses for NCAA eligibility, and students must independently confirm such alignment. Course enrollment within SCUSD is not guaranteed for students who fail to complete outside coursework successfully."