CCCApply Noncredit Application

Owned by Patricia Donohue
Last updated: Jan 05, 2023
7 min read

The CCCApply Noncredit Application is LIVE in production and available to preview in the CCCApply pilot environment. Click here for links and implementation information. 

Note: This document was last updated in March 2020.

Overview

Existing California education code law requires residency determination for every student that submits an application for admission to a California community college. However, the recently passed Assembly Bill 3101 (AB3101) mandates that students seeking to enroll exclusively in career development, college preparation, and other noncredit courses would be exempt from residency classification requirements.

The passage of AB 3101 gave us the latitude we needed to deliver a modified version of CCCApply for our noncredit student population. Lifting the requirement for uniform residency determination for all students allows us to look at other questions and steps that might be omitted at the time of application. Our goal is to find balance in what is asked of the student that is applying for college while still collecting all of the information required for state and federal reporting purposes.

The CCC Chancellor’s Office is driving changes to ensure CCCApply supports students through the community college application and enrollment process, and is targeting development and implementation of the redesigned system in fall of 2019. Activities such as reducing the number of questions in CCCApply and creating a simpler application for noncredit students which began last fall 2018 has been bolstered by the passage of Assembly Bill 3101. The Noncredit Application Workflow path is a project of the CCCApply Redesign Project.

Product Description

The CCCApply Noncredit Application is a streamlined version of the Standard Application (for credit), with a unique, college branded URL intended explicitly for students enrolling exclusively in noncredit courses. More like a "workflow" within the Standard application, the Noncredit Application uses the same underlying infrastructure as the Standard Application but without the residency questions or the residency algorithm.  The residency status field will automatically default to "N" and a new "non_credit" flag has been implemented that will default to "True" for all applications submitted using the Noncredit application URL. 

Read more:  Noncredit App Requirements

 

Key Characteristics

  • Shorter, more streamline version of the Standard Application workflow

  • Unique URL, customized for each college based on MisCode

  • In-Progress and submitted application Confirmation numbers are modified with a prefix: "NC-" (Example: "NC-794033")

  • Colleges may configure different Terms in the Noncredit application - with different start and end, open and close dates - if desired;

  • Colleges may configure different major categories and/or Majors/Programs of Study in the Noncredit Application - with different start, end, open, and close dates - if desired

  • Colleges may configure different Supplemental Questions in the Noncredit Application than the Standard Application - or none at all - if desired

  • Students that apply using the new Noncredit URL, certain data fields and flags will default to the following:

    • New "non_credit" status field = True

    • New "Integrity-flag-81" field is triggered = True

    • Residency Status field = "N"  (Null - a new value)

    • Residency Area status fields = "9"  (a new value)

  • Students that need to re-apply for credit courses after submitting the Noncredit application, will be allowed to submit a Standard Application for the same term, same college.

  • Students that find they need to enroll in credit courses (in the same term) after submitting the Noncredit application may/must submit a Standard Application for the same term but will only have to answer the questions that were hidden in the Noncredit application workflow

  • Auto-population functionality in the Noncredit application is consistent with the behavior experienced today in the Standard application. Reminder, this auto-population behavior is also true when submitting subsequent year applications - for any term, at any college within 2 years of submitting a Noncredit Application.

 

User Interface

The Noncredit Application DOES NOT include the following pages and questions:

  • Citizenship & Military Status page

  • Residency page

 

OPTIONAL: Colleges can opt to display or hide the entire Needs & Interests page or individual sections or questions, including:

  • Are you Comfortable with English?

  • Financial Assistance

  • Athletic Interest

  • Programs & Services

 

The Noncredit Application DOES include the following pages and questions:

  • Enrollment page

  • Account Information/Mailing - including the Dependency Status for minors

  • Education page

  • Demographic Information

  • Review, Consent, & Submission

 

Administrator Configuration & Downloads

The Noncredit Application has much of the same Administrator configuration, implementation, and data delivery functionality that is already setup for your Standard Application, such as: 

  • The Noncredit Application uses the same admin configuration and reporting tools as the Standard Application; although some defaults and minor set up tasks will be required. 

    • Uses the same Rules & Messages modules for the Standard Application

    • Uses the same databases as the Standard Application ("In-Progress" and "Submitted Applications")

    • Uses the same Report Center, reports, views, charts, and dashboards

  • The Noncredit Application uses the same data delivery processes

    • Uses the

    • Uses the same Format Definitions XML file for specifying which data fields should be downloaded from the Standard Application Download Server

    • Uses the same Job XML file 

    • Uses the same Download Client that you currently have installed now

    • Uses the same Glue for CCCApply process that you currently have installed now (if applicable)

 

Differences Between the Standard Application & the Noncredit Application

Although there are very few differences between the Standard Application and the Noncredit Application, colleges that choose to implement the new Noncredit Application will have several required setup tasks, and should be aware of the following defaults and requirements.

Application URL

The Application Gateway to the Noncredit Application has a unique URL for each college based on their college MIScode.

Terms

Terms can be configured in the CCCApply Administrator to display differently in each application.  An "Application Type" toggle has been added to the Terms table which allows the college to set for: "Standard"  or  "Noncredit"  or  "Both".

Intended Major / Program of Study

The "Intended Major/Program of Study" field can also display different majors/programs for each application. An "Application Type" toggle has been added to the Majors table in the Administrator which requires the college to set a setting:  "Standard"  or  "Noncredit"  or  "Both".  Each major or program must be configured with one of the available settings. These are set up in the "Majors" module in the CCCApply Administrator. Even if you plan to offer the same Majors/Programs of Study in both applications, you must set the Application Type setting to "Both" for each individual major or program. 

Read more about the rules and requirements for Majors in the CCCApply Administrator User Guide. 

Supplemental Questions

Colleges have the option to configure unique supplemental questions for each application (Standard vs. Noncredit). The process for configuring and uploading supplemental questions are documented in the CCCApply Administrator User Guide, as well as the Working with Supplemental Questions User Guide.

 

Post-Submission Calculations/Algorithms Not Run in Noncredit Application

  • Residency Status Determination (Submission Calculation Service)

    • Does not run at time of submission

    • <res_status> = field defaults to new value = "N"


  • AB540 Eligibility algorithm 

    • Does not run at time of submission

    • <elig_ab540> = defaults flag to Null


  • Ineligible for Admission Status algorithm

    • Does not run at time of submission

    • <adm_ineligible> = defaults flag to Null


  • Financial Aid Eligibility algorithm

    • Does not run at time of submission

    • <fin_aid_ref> = defaults to Null



The other differences between the two paths are primarily to help colleges identify and distinguish the Noncredit path from the Standard Application, such as:

  • A different URL is used to get to the Noncredit Application path

  • A new "Noncredit Status" field was added to help identify Noncredit apps submitted. If the new Noncredit URL is used, the new <non_credit> field is set to "True", otherwise it is "False"

  • The Confirmation number for Noncredit apps that are started and submitted (or saved as In-Progress applications) using the Noncredit URL will have a "NC" prefix added to them

  • A new Integrity Flag 81 was added. When the new <non_credit> field is set to "True", Integrity Flag 81 is triggered which sends an email to the college admissions office with the message, "Applicant applied using the Noncredit URL"

  • There will be blank and/or null values appearing for a lot of existing fields, including the Citizenship, Military, and Residency fields, in your download files and in the Report Center



Project Phases

Development and implementation of the Noncredit Application will roll out in phases.  The first phase of development has already begun and a soft-launch release to the Pilot environment is scheduled for February 2019 as part of the CCCApply 6.4.0 release. Below is a breakdown of the project plan. 

Phase 1:  Development & Soft Launch

Development of the Noncredit Application (MVP requirements) began in September 2018 and the initial version will soft-launch in February 2019. 

Development requirements for the minimum viable product for release (MVP) are here. 

Phase 2: Pilot Project

Beginning with a soft-launch, a college pilot of six districts will test the new Noncredit application to work out the bugs, identify issues, and ensure all post-submission data and workflow processes are ready for production release. Pilot colleges will be required to participate in extended user acceptance testing and IT staff must support the effort with full implementation and integration with their SIS systems. Bi-weekly feedback meetings will be recorded and shared with colleges.

Phase 3: Production Release

The production release for the Noncredit Application is tentatively planned for June 15, 2019. This is part of the CCCApply 6.5.0 release.

Phase 4: Product Maintenance

CCCApply Redesign Project (2020)

Noncredit Application Requirements

Noncredit Application Change Request:  2018-24R: Revise CCCApply to Support Noncredit Students

Noncredit Workflow Path PPT (Note: This ppt was used for gathering and discussion development requirements only.)