Take Shimer courses at City College prices

The Dual Enrollment Agreement between Shimer and the City Colleges of Chicago allows students to take courses at Shimer College for City College fees, and to count those courses toward their Associate Degrees.
Shimer College is committed to helping students develop their capacity for critical thought and interpersonal communication through careful reading of the Great Books as they pursue their Bachelor’s degree. The core values informing education at Shimer are free inquiry, dialog, critical open-mindedness, and integration of disciplines. City Colleges of Chicago supports these values through their own Great Books curriculum, one of the many options available in their Associate Degree curriculum. 


The Dual Enrollment Agreement between our two schools allows City College students to take courses at Shimer College for City College fees, and to count those courses toward their Associate Degrees.

Requirements: The Dual Enrollment opportunity will be available to qualifying City College students who will be able to take Shimer courses for up to 12 credits of their general education core courses, one course per semester, during their enrollment at the City Colleges. To participate, City College students must have completed 15 college-level credits AND at least one Great Books course at City Colleges. A dual enrollment student must be enrolled full-time (a minimum of 12 credits; 15 is recommended), with both Shimer and City Colleges courses counting toward the total number of credits. 

Available Courses: Dual enrolled City College students may take any of seven lower-level core courses at Shimer when they are offered: 

Humanities Courses:  

HUM1: Art & Music  

HUM2: Poetry, Drama & Fiction  

Natural Sciences Courses

NATSCI1: Laws & Models in Chemistry  

NATSCI2: Evolution, Genetics & Animal Behavior  

Social Sciences Courses

SOC1:  Society, Culture & Personality  

SOC2: The Western Political Tradition  

Integrative Studies Courses

IS2: Foundations of Mathematics and Logic  

How to Apply: City College students who wish to participate in the Dual Enrollment program can apply for the program by submitting a copy of the application for the Dual Enrollment Program to the Great Books faculty at the City Colleges, the Transfer Center Director at the City College, and a copy to the Shimer Admission Office.  

Cost and Financial Aid: City College students will be charged City Colleges fees for the courses taken at Shimer in a dual enrollment status.  Students are responsible for paying to Shimer the tuition for their Shimer course work each term.  City College students who receive financial aid to pay for their college costs must follow the terms of City Colleges Financial Aid Consortium Agreement in order to use financial aid dollars to pay for the Shimer courses. 

Information obtained from Shimer College’s webpage: https://www.shimer.edu/about/academics/programs/cccdualenrollment.php​ 

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