SOEP was established by the Utah Legislature in the 2011 General Session. The program enables eligible students to earn high school graduation credit through the completion of publicly funded online courses.
The purpose of SOEP is to:
Students are eligible to earn high school credit through SOEP if they:
Students may enroll in up to 6.0 credits of online courses. Courses taken online reduce the number of courses taken at the student's Primary School of Enrollment, unless the student has a Student Education Occupation Plan (SEOP) for early graduation, which will allow the student to exceed full-time enrollment.
Some high school course material may not be age-appropriate for every student.
SOEP Utah Public Education Online: Enrollment by Course
It is advisable for students to enroll in SOEP courses along with traditional courses during ordinary spring registration processes. Student with a free period in their schedule may request a course to fill that space at any time. If a student needs to drop a course to make room for an online course in their schedule, this is limited by traditional drop dates of their school. Release Time is a free period
Before choosing a course, students are advised to check the course Catalogs of Providers linked below (under “Online Course Providers”) to ensure a provider offers a selected course. Providers may also list enrollment deadlines. Requests will be rejected if these are not filed soon enough to meet Provider deadlines.
A student’s school-based email account may filter out external traffic, and an alternative account should be utilized.
Students may register at any time during the calendar year but are encouraged to the Spring for the upcoming school year. Summer course registration should occur no later than April, because many Summer courses begin in May the first week of June. Most Providers require a student to be in their “seat” and ready to “go” on the start date of the course. Registrations should be initiated no less than 2 weeks prior to a course beginning date.
Once a registration request is filed in SEATS using the registration link above, Providers will email students to prompt them to register on a local application housed on the Provider’s website. This will be completed in addition to and subsequent to the student’s filing of a SEATS application. Requests of students failing to respond to Provider communications will be closed without further action. Contact edonline@schools.utah.gov if provider communications are not received.
A primary school district or charter school is guaranteed 72 business hours (roughly two weeks) to review the student’s course request. Counselors and Providers are contacted automatically when a student submits a course request through SEATS.
Summer courses are recorded in the upcoming school year. Unless the student has a plan for early graduation on file with their Counselor, summer courses diminish credits that the student will be scheduled for through the remainder of the academic year (June 30-July 1).
Students must request courses under auspices of the school that the student will be attending in the upcoming year. If the student has a SEATS account they should email edonline@schools.utah.gov to ask for their account to be shifted to a new school as these transitions occur.
Academic Year:
Driver Education:
Summer:
Summer courses are funded as part of a student's ordinary school year; unless the student has a Statewide Online Student Education Occupation Plan (SEOP) that allows for early graduation, any summer credits taken will reduce the number of credits, which the student may take across the remainder of the school year.
All SOEP courses will reduce the number of courses a student may take in a traditional setting, in any particular school year, because SOEP courses are added "on top of" or "in addition to" a full course load taken in a traditional setting.
In most cases, the student remains limited to 5 credits (five full-year courses) taken online. If a student wishes to enroll for more than a full-time course load, and not graduate early, it is likely that their own school district or Electronic High School (EHS) has options that they may be interested in, and students are encouraged to check on these resources.
Student and Parent Online Course Plan
You may, but are not required, to complete the course plan to prepare for your meeting with your school counselor or Public Education Provider.
Basic Computer Skills MOOC (Free Resource)
Wisconsin's Technical Colleges
Utah High School Graduation Requirements
Utah State Board of Education Teaching and Learning
Eligibility Center: High School Portal
National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)
NCAA Review of Online Courses
For high school athletes, the ultimate value of an online course is what the NCAA thinks of it, because students enrolling for the first time at an NCAA Division I or Division II college or university must have their academic credentials certified by the NCAA Eligibility Center in order to practice, compete, or receive athletically related financial aid. Use the NCAA High School Portal to determine whether a particular course offered by a particular provider is NCAA approved.
Regents' Scholarship Portal
Utah System of Higher Educations
SOEP and Rule Change
YouTube
SOEP Student Services Administrators and Counselors Webinar
Utah Education Network (UEN)
If you are interested in becoming an Online Provider in the SOEP, please contact the Utah State Board of Education. Your school or program must be accredited for 9th to 12th grade education, must have a licensed administrator and assign teachers licensed in the state of Utah, and you must be one of the following:
Enrolling Home and Private School Students
Appeal of Credit Limitation/Early Graduation
Provides instruction for a test administration at the end of instruction. Each SOEP Provider or LEA providing online courses must determine a local testing window, according to the schedule below. If you have questions concerning testing, please e-mail Jared Wright.
Student Assessment of Growth and Excellence (SAGE) Testing Schedule
Utah State Board of Education Assessment and Accountability
Course Codes
Utah State Board of Education Teaching and Learning
UTREx Course Entry
Entering SOEP courses into your School's Student Information System (SIS)
Provider Application and Statewide Services Agreement
R277-726: Statewide Online Education Program
Utah Office of Administrative Rules
Title 53F-4-4: State Funding, Contracted Initiatives
Utah State Legislature