Earning a college degree is an increasingly important pathway to the middle class. Yet fewer than 10 percent of children born into the lowest income quartile complete a bachelor’s degree by age 25, compared with more than half of children from the highest income quartile. Many high school students—particularly those from low-income families—still lack access to rigorous coursework and the advising and support that help prepare them for college success.
Expanding Dual Enrollment Access with Federal Pell Grants
Building on efforts to redesign high schools and expand college opportunity, the Department of Education invited 44 postsecondary institutions to join a new experiment that, for the first time, allows high school students enrolled in college-credit courses to access Federal Pell Grants. The experiment will enable an estimated 10,000 high school students to share approximately $20 million in Pell Grant funding to support dual enrollment courses offered jointly by colleges and high schools across the country. Nearly 80 percent of participating sites are community colleges.
Dual enrollment—where students take college courses while still enrolled in high school—is a promising strategy to increase college access and success, especially for students from low-income and first-generation college backgrounds. Selected institutions must ensure Pell-eligible students are not charged for postsecondary coursework after the application of Pell Grants and any public or institutional aid. The Department will use this experimental authority to waive current financial aid rules that prevent high school students from receiving Pell Grants, with the goal of learning how earlier access to financial aid affects participation and outcomes in dual enrollment programs.
Why Dual Enrollment Matters for College Access and Success
Dual enrollment participation is widespread: more than 1.4 million high school students took college-credit courses in the 2010–2011 school year. A growing body of research indicates that dual enrollment can improve outcomes—higher high school grades, increased rates of college enrollment and persistence, faster credit accumulation, and greater credential attainment—particularly for low-income students. However, cost remains a barrier: at nearly half of institutions offering dual enrollment, most students pay out of pocket.
Program Features Designed to Promote Student Success
The institutions invited to participate in the experiment proposed dual enrollment models that share common, research-based features designed to prepare students for postsecondary success:
- Academic preparation and credit accumulation: Programs require students to meet academic standards, maintain satisfactory grades, and complete a quality curriculum. Many programs aim to offer at least 12 college credits—roughly a semester’s worth of credits—so students can make meaningful progress toward a credential.
- Advising and support services: Most programs provide personalized academic advising or guidance counseling, tutoring, and other supports to help students select courses aligned with their postsecondary goals. Participating institutions and their secondary school partners will help students complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to determine Pell Grant eligibility.
- Clear pathways to further study: Dual enrollment students are positioned to continue at the participating college or to transfer earned credits to other regional institutions, creating efficient pathways toward a credential or degree.
- STEM foundations and workforce alignment: Many programs emphasize foundational skills needed for STEM fields and local workforce demands, including advanced manufacturing, machining, welding, aviation, health sciences, software engineering, computer information systems, and business applications.
Participation in the experiment will expand access for Pell-eligible students from low-income families and has already prompted the creation of new partnerships between colleges and high schools.
Connecting to Broader Affordability and Community College Strengthening Efforts
The dual enrollment experiment complements broader Administration efforts to make college more affordable and to strengthen community colleges as gateways to economic mobility. Recent initiatives include the announcement of $100 million in America’s Promise Grants to connect more Americans to free community college and training. The Administration has also supported community colleges through significant federal investments, including more than $66 billion distributed through the Pell Grant program (helping reduce costs by roughly $3,500 for over 3 million students annually), more than $1.6 billion in HEA Title III and Title V funding, and nearly $2 billion through the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College Career Training (TAACCCT) grant program. Altogether, these investments total approximately $70 billion in support for community colleges.
Building Evidence and Catalyzing Next Generation High Schools
The experiment aligns with efforts such as the First in the World program and the Investing in Innovation (i3) Fund to promote and evaluate innovative education strategies. It also supports the Administration’s push to design Next Generation High Schools that personalize learning, emphasize project- and problem-based instruction, and strengthen connections to postsecondary education and career opportunities. As part of this broader agenda, the President’s fiscal year 2017 budget proposed an $80 million competition for districts to develop innovative high school models, and public and private partners committed substantial resources to advance next-generation approaches.
2016 Postsecondary Institutions Invited to Participate
Forty-four postsecondary institutions across 23 states have been invited to participate in the dual enrollment experiment. Participating institutions include:
- Adams State University (Alamosa, Colorado)
- Asnuntuck Community College (Enfield, Connecticut)
- Bard College (Annandale-on-Hudson, New York)
- Benedict College (Columbia, South Carolina)
- Bristol Community College (Fall River, Massachusetts)
- Carl Sandburg College (Galesburg, Illinois)
- Cayuga Community College (Auburn, New York)
- Central Virginia Community College (Lynchburg, Virginia)
- College of Southern Maryland (La Plata, Maryland)
- Community College of Beaver County (Monaca, Pennsylvania)
- Cowley County Community College (Arkansas City, Kansas)
- Gateway Community College (New Haven, Connecticut)
- George C. Wallace Community College (Hanceville, Alabama)
- Germanna Community College (Fredericksburg, Virginia)
- Glenville State College (Glenville, West Virginia)
- Guilford Technical Community College (Jamestown, North Carolina)
- Hagerstown Community College (Hagerstown, Maryland)
- Holyoke Community College (Holyoke, Massachusetts)
- Illinois Central College (East Peoria, Illinois)
- Jackson State University (Jackson, Mississippi)
- Leeward Community College (Oahu, Hawaii)
- Louisiana State University (Eunice, Louisiana)
- Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College (Perkinstown, Mississippi)
- Naugatuck Valley Community College (Waterbury, Connecticut)
- Niagara County Community College (Sanborn, New York)
- North Country Community College (Saranac Lake, New York)
- Northeast State Community College (Blountville, Tennessee)
- Northeastern Technical College (Cheraw, South Carolina)
- Norwalk Community College (Norwalk, Connecticut)
- Owensboro Community and Technical College (Owensboro, Kentucky)
- Quinebaug Valley Community College (Danielson, Connecticut)
- Ranger College (Ranger, Texas)
- Ranken Technical College (St. Louis, Missouri)
- Southern New Hampshire University (Manchester, New Hampshire)
- Southwest Tennessee Community College (Memphis, Tennessee)
- Southwestern Illinois College (Belleville, Illinois)
- Sullivan County Community College (Loch Sheldrake, New York)
- SUNY Adirondack (Queensbury, New York)
- SUNY Rockland Community College (Suffern, New York)
- Three Rivers Community College (Norwich, Connecticut)
- University of Arkansas Community College (Hope, Arkansas)
- University of Nevada (Reno, Nevada)
- Urban College of Boston (Boston, Massachusetts)
- William R. Moore College of Technology (Memphis, Tennessee)
References
Selected research and reports cited include work by Bailey and Dynarski (2011) on inequality in college entry and completion; U.S. Department of Education National Center for Education Statistics reports on dual enrollment (2010–11); studies by Karp and Hughes (2008); An (2012) on dual enrollment and degree attainment; and research from Karp et al. (2007) on participant outcomes in dual enrollment programs.