Federal Policy

Federal Statutes

While states have taken the lead in enacting concurrent enrollment policy, numerous federal policies encourage the development of concurrent enrollment partnerships between secondary schools and institutions of higher education. Some examples include:

Race to the Top Fund (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009)
The federal stimulus bill passed in February 2009, known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, created the State Incentive Grant Fund – commonly referred to as the Race to the Top Fund. Race to the Top is the largest education grant competition ever, with states competing for considerable amounts of federal funding based on their commitment to the Department of Education’s four priorities for comprehensive state education reform:

• Adopting standards and assessments that prepare students to succeed in college and the workplace and to compete in the global economy;
• Building data systems that measure student growth and success, and inform teachers and principals about how they can improve instruction;
• Recruiting, developing, rewarding, and retaining effective teachers and principals, especially where they are needed most; and
• Turning around our lowest-achieving schools.

Numerous states have included concurrent enrollment as part of their Race to the Top applications submitted in January 2009. The Department’s guide on the use of stimulus funds calls on states and Local Education Agencies to “increase student participation in rigorous advanced courses,” particularly “dual enrollment in postsecondary credit-bearing courses and provide professional development for teachers and counselors to make the expansion possible.” Concurrent enrollment partnerships adhering to NACEP’s standards provide content and course-specific professional development to high school faculty. The Notice Inviting Applications published in the Federal Register in November highlights increasing rigor in low-achieving secondary schools undergoing school transformation, “by offering opportunities for students to enroll in advanced coursework” including dual enrollment programs. Concurrent enrollment partnerships also hallmark an additional invitational priority included in the Notice: “P–20 Coordination, Vertical and Horizontal Alignment.” As partnerships that bridge the traditional divide between high schools and colleges, for both students and faculty, concurrent enrollment partnerships exemplify the type of vertical alignment necessary to create a more seamless education system.

Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006
The federal government’s funding of career and technical education (CTE), including Tech Prep Programs, has provided considerable support for concurrent enrollment partnerships. The Perkins Act has encouraged the alignment and coordination of career and technical programs of study across secondary and postsecondary institutions. The Act mandates that states prepare 6-year CTE state plans, which describe how these education pathways will be aligned – including whether there is an “opportunity for secondary education students to participate in dual or concurrent enrollment programs” [20 USC 2342]. State and local agencies may use their federal CTE funds for to support college transition initiatives for CTE students, including dual and concurrent enrollment programs [20 USC 2344 and 2355].

Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR-UP)
The federal GEAR-UP program supplies funding for states, postsecondary institutions, and local K-12 education agencies to establish partnerships to encourage and support low-income students in taking rigorous high school courses, graduating from high school, and transitioning successfully to college. GEAR-UP programs work to place more of these students in rigorous college preparatory courses work, while providing them comprehensive supports such as tutoring, mentoring, parent involvement, assistance in preparing college and financial aid applications, and college exposure activities. To enable students have access to academically rigorous courses, federal GEAR-UP funds can be used by states and partnerships to support dual and concurrent enrollment programs [20 USC 1070a-24].

Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Critical Foreign Language Education
This Act establishes a federal program for Foreign Language Partnerships to increase the number of students studying critical foreign languages and achieving higher levels of language proficiency at the postsecondary level. These partnerships design articulated programs of study from elementary school through postsecondary education, and funds can be used to support dual enrollment programs offering foreign language courses. [20 USC 9863]