An Online Education in American Civics
Hillsdale College offers college credit in American history and government for high school students.
Applications for the fall semester open March 15.
Students taking these courses will have the opportunity to interact with Hillsdale instructors, to learn alongside students from around the country, and to earn college credit while still in high school.
Hillsdale College’s distance learning programs offers the following courses:
Fall Semester Offerings
- OLA 101 American History I: Colonial America through the Civil War
- OLA 102 American Government
Spring Semester Offerings
- OLA 103 American History II: Reconstruction to Today
- OLA 104 American Political Thought
The program is intended for students in their junior or senior year of high school who are currently maintaining a GPA of 3.4 or higher.
Contact Distance Learning
Not ready to apply? Register here and stay up to date on future application terms and course offerings.
(517) 225-4150
Course Offerings
American Government
This course introduces students to how the government in America was designed and how it operates today. Students will study the theoretical foundations of government, the organization of government structures in the federal and state constitutions, and the challenges and changes to American government throughout history.
American Political Thought
This course focuses on the conceptions of justice that have animated American politics throughout history. Students will evaluate how different understandings of the purpose of government and the meaning of rights have shaped the practice of American government with special emphasis on progressivism, the New Deal, the Great Society, and contemporary politics.
American History I: Colonial America through the Civil War
This course explores central questions and themes from America’s early history, including the development of colonial America, the causes of the American Revolution, the nature of the union, the role of religion in American life, the settlement of the American frontier, the problem of slavery, the rise of sectional conflict, and the effort to unite the nation after the Civil War.
American History II: Reconstruction to Today
This course focuses on the consequences of Reconstruction, the nature of the American West and the importance of the frontier, the changes to America during the Progressive Era, the American involvement in the two world wars, the history of the Cold War, and the primary challenges to the American people today.
FAQs
Each course is worth three elective college credits.
Students who successfully complete this course will earn three college credits from Hillsdale College. The intention of these courses is for them to be widely transferable to other colleges and universities, but the decision on how or if they transfer depends upon the institution in which the student enrolls. For students who matriculate to Hillsdale College, these courses will count as elective credit toward graduation and will not satisfy a requirement in the College’s core curriculum or in a major or minor field of concentration.
All completed applications will receive a decision via email starting April 23.
Applications for the fall semester will open March 15 and close August 1. Applications for the spring semester will open October 1 and close December 1.
Transcripts will be sent through Parchment, the service for sending official transcripts electronically. There is a $2.85 fee to be paid online. In the online application process, you provide an email address to which the transcript is to be sent. Go to parchment.com to start and track the order.
All students must first enroll in Self-Service. A new student account will be required to enroll in Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). Once enrolled, the student should visit account.hillsdale.edu and select “Enroll in Self-Service.” Self-Service will require students to provide additional means of account verification (such as security questions and mobile phone numbers). Students must provide these in order to enroll in Self-Service, which is the only means through which students can reset passwords.
Students already enrolled in Self-Service can visit https://account.hillsdale.edu/ and select “Reset Your Password.” They will then go through the account verification process with their mobile phones and security questions. They may then reset their passwords.
Links to the application form can be found on this page. Requirements for Hillsdale’s online for-credit program include a high school transcript, a letter of recommendation, and a short essay.
Hillsdale College will offer two courses for Fall 2024 and two course for Spring 2025:
Fall Semester Offerings
- American History I: Colonial America through the Civil War
- American Government
Spring Semester Offerings
- American History II: Reconstruction to Today
- American Political Thought
All live seminars will be taught by Hillsdale affiliated faculty. The American History courses will include prerecorded video lectures featuring Dr. Wilfred McClay and Dr. Brad Birzer.
Professors will provide their contact information in the course syllabus, which students can access on Canvas once the professor posts it.
For any customer service or technology questions, please email the College’s online learning support team at [email protected].
You may withdraw from the course prior to the first day of the course. All withdrawals after that date will not be eligible for a refund. Petitions for withdrawal should be emailed to [email protected].
Please include in the email the stated reason for withdrawal. Petitions for withdrawal may also be submitted after the first day of the course and are required for the instructor to consider the withdrawal valid. A valid withdrawal does not equate to a refund.
The cost for each 3-credit course will be $450 for Fall 2024, plus the cost of books.
American History: Colonial America to the Civil War and American History: Reconstruction to Today require American Heritage: A Reader and Land of Hope: An Invitation to the Great American Story as course textbooks. American Government requires The U.S. Constitution: A Reader.
All textbooks can be purchased on Hillsdale’s online bookstore.
Upon acceptance, students will receive via email a code to use on Hillsdale’s online bookstore to purchase course textbooks at a discounted price. Each code will be unique to a specific class and should be entered at checkout.
All students, including all of our online students, are asked to sign the College’s Honor Code prior to starting classes at Hillsdale, in which students commit to being “honorable in conduct, honest in word and deed, dutiful in study and service, and respectful of the rights of others.” An important part of ensuring the success and integrity of our teaching efforts is academic honesty, and our online format will require additional effort to avoid temptations and shortcuts. You can learn more about the Honor Code by visiting www.hillsdale.edu/campus-life/honor-code/.
These online courses follow the same 15-week semester schedule as traditional courses on-campus. For American History: Colonial America to the Civil War and American History: Reconstruction to Today, students will be required to watch two lecture videos and participate in a live, one-hour seminar each week.
For American Government and American Political Thought, students will be required to participate in three hours of live seminar each week.
These courses are intended for high school juniors and seniors who wish to pursue a serious education in the liberal arts. General requirements for the program include:
- A minimum GPA of 3.4
- An unofficial high school transcript
- One 500-word essay response
- One letter of recommendation
The technology recommendations for online students include:
- Operating System: Microsoft and Apple operating systems are supported by Canvas.
- Memory (RAM): 8GB or higher.
- Hard Drive: 5GB of free space available or higher.
- Internet/Bandwidth: 10 Mbps Download, 5 Mbps Upload and less than 100 ms latency.
- Web Browser: The most recent version of Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome.
- Microphone/Webcam: Both are needed and may be included with your laptop. A noise canceling microphone is ideal.
- Headphones: Headphones are recommended to limit distractions for the student and instructor.
- Antivirus Software: Strongly recommended for online students.
- Additional Software: Adobe Acrobat Reader (free download on Internet) and Microsoft Office 365 (free download available through Hillsdale College).
You will not; all lectures will be conducted virtually, either by livestream or pre-taped video. We always welcome visitors, however, and would be happy to assist you in coming to campus. To set up an Admissions visit, please see www.hillsdale.edu/admissions-aid/visiting-campus/.
The course will be delivered through Canvas.
Yes. Hillsdale College is accredited through the Higher Learning Commission.
Students can communicate with their course instructor to answer questions about the course. We also have academic support hours available to students who want help preparing for course exams and papers.
You can contact our customer support at [email protected] for any questions related to the status of your application.
Enrolling in an online course will not give an applicant preference for undergraduate admission. For more information about the criteria for admission to Hillsdale’s undergraduate program, please contact the Admissions Office ([email protected]).
No. Once a student gains admission into the program, he/she will remain an admitted student and will be eligible to register and pay for additional courses until he/she graduates from high school.
Students should expect their class size to be around 15.