One of the principles of an early college program is that students may earn an associate degree or up to two years of transferable college credit. Our higher education partner the University of Utah does not offer associate degrees. Students may earn up to 43 semester hours of University of Utah credit while attending AMES, which is the equivalent of two years of college.  

We have a good partnership with Cottonwood High School and you may participate in Cottonwood sports and extracurricular activities. Many of those activities are well represented by AMES students. As an incoming freshman you may compete in sports at your boundary school or with Cottonwood, however, once you establish where you are playing you may lose a year of eligibility if you try to transfer at a later date.

As a public charter school, AMES aligns with the state and federal policies that determine our operation. This includes conducting a blind lottery for all eligible 9th grade applicants. This gives any interested student an equal chance at acceptance. 

The application is opened at the beginning of January and remains open until mid February every year. The lottery is conducted at the end of February and accepted students are notified within a few weeks of the lottery. 

Upperclassmen applicants are notified in the summer and will be asked to meet with school officials before acceptance.