Statewide Online Education Program (SOEP)

Welcome to Statewide Online Education Program (SOEP)

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.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Student Information Flier | El Programa Estatal de Educación en Línea (SOEP)

Overview

The purpose of SOEP is to:

Provide students with access to online learning regardless of where students attend school.
Provide high quality learning options for students regardless of language, residence, family income, or special needs.
Provide online learning options to allow students to acquire the knowledge and technology skills necessary in a digital world.
Utilize the power and scalability of technology to customize education so that students may learn in their own style preference and at their own pace.
Utilize technology to remove the constraints of traditional classroom learning, allowing students to access learning virtually at any time, and in any place, and give students the flexibility to take advantage of their peak learning time.
Provide personalized learning where students can spend as little or as much time as they need to master the material.
Provide greater access to self-paced programs enabling high-achieving students to accelerate academically, while struggling students may have additional time and help to gain competency.
Allow students to customize their schedule to better meet their academic goals.
Provide quality learning options to better prepare students for post-secondary education and vocational or career opportunities.
Allow students to have an individualized educational experience.

Students and Parents

Eligibility

Students are eligible to earn high school credit through SOEP if they:

are enrolled in a public school in Utah, or
attend a private school or home school in Utah and have a custodial parent or guardian who is a resident of Utah.

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.

Registration

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.

Entry – Getting into a “Seat” and the Co-Registration Process

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 co-registration process must be completed in addition to and subsequent to the student’s filing of a SEATS application. Requests of students failing to respond to Provider co-registration 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:

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.

Online Course Providers

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.

Resources

Basic Computer Skills MOOC (Free Resource)
Wisconsin's Technical Colleges

High School Requirements
Utah State Board of Education Teaching and Learning

Student Scholarships

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

Local Education Agency (LEA)

Statewide Online Education Program and Rule Change
YouTube

Note: This video references roles of a administrative officials including: Business Administrators, Superintendents, Principals, Student Services Director, Special Education Directors.

2019 SOEP Rule Change
YouTube

Facilitating SOEP Enrollment Counselor Tips
YouTube

SOEP Desk Reference

SOEP Student Services Administrators and Counselors Webinar
Utah Education Network (UEN)

Becoming an Online Provider

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:

A charter or district school created exclusively for the purpose of serving students online.
An LEA program, approved by the LEA's governing board, that is created exclusively for the purpose of serving students online.
A program of a public institution of higher education that offers secondary school level courses, and is created exclusively for the purpose of serving students online.

Provider Application and Statewide Services Agreement

Provider LEA Website Listing Information