All secondary school students deserve access to a wide variety of high-quality courses. Yet many schools — especially smaller, rural and resource-poor urban schools — can offer little more than a basic curriculum. For their students, these limited offerings can translate into a limited future. All secondary school students deserve access to a wide variety of high quality courses. Yet many schools, especially smaller, rural schools and resource-poor urban schools, can offer little more than a basic curriculum. For their students, these limited offerings can translate into a limited future. This Knowledge Brief focuses specifically on programs intended to provide supplementary online courses to high school students who would otherwise be unable to take them, due to scheduling conflicts or their own school’s limited curriculum, among other reasons. The brief identifies key issues related to online learning that, if appropriately addressed, increase the likelihood of student success. It is intended primarily for districts or schools that are considering participating in an online learning program to expand course options, as well as for entities considering developing an online learning program. While some issues addressed in this brief pertain directly to participating schools, most fall within the purview of the online learning program itself. That said, when considering whether to adopt a particular program, districts and schools should pay special attention to how the program has dealt with these issues. The information that follows is drawn from a review of the research literature and interviews with experts in the field about successful development and implementation of online learning programs for high school students. The brief also draws from WestEd’s evaluation of the University of California’s College Prep (UCCP) Initiative.