Dual-Enrollment Programs: Legislation Helps High School Students Enroll in College Courses

Legislation in 22 states allows qualified high school students to enroll simultaneously in high school and college courses. Known as dual enrollment, the law varies in its details from state to state, but all versions contain similar core elements. This legislation supports a student's need to move beyond the 12th-grade curriculum while still enrolled in high school, and thus, by inference, provides a justification for sequential content acceleration throughout K–12. It also surfaces several important, though controversial, issues: shifting control for educational decisions, awarding course credit and grades, and reallocating tax dollars for tuition. Factors in developing a student's K–16 seamless transition are considered.