The Case for Federal Investment in Dual Enrollment
Where someone lives should not determine whether they get the chance to earn college credit before they graduate high school. But that is exactly what is happening today. Decades of research show that dual enrollment, the practice of allowing high school students to take college courses, is one of the most effective tools we have for closing college access and completion gaps. Participants are more likely to enroll in college, persist through their first year, and earn a degree. Still, access still depends heavily on zip code, family income, and the resources of a student’s school. Black and Latinx students, students from low-income families, students with disabilities, and students in rural communities all participate at rates well below their peers, not because they are less capable, but because cost, transportation, and other structures and policies are stacked against them.
In this paper, All4Ed makes the case for a targeted federal investment to close that gap. It calls for formula grants to states tied to real policy conditions, including guaranteed credit transfer, no-cost access for students, pathways for teachers to earn the credentials they need to teach these courses, and dedicated counseling support so students actually learn the option exists. It calls for competitive grants that direct additional resources to high-need districts and rural communities, including support for work-based learning and wraparound services like tutoring and transportation. And it calls for real accountability, disaggregated data, quality standards, and resource tracking, so federal dollars close gaps rather than quietly reinforce them.
The return on this kind of investment is substantial. Families save real money, students move through college faster, with less debt, and a better sense of their path to thriving, and the country gets a workforce that is more credentialed and better prepared. For students who have historically been shut out of higher education, dual enrollment offers something research cannot fully quantify: the chance to walk into a college classroom, succeed, and know for the first time that they belong there. The evidence has already settled the question of whether dual enrollment works. What remains is whether policymakers are willing to build a system where every student gets access to it, not just the ones lucky enough to live in the right place.
Read the full paper for a detailed look at the research, the barriers to equitable access, and All4Ed’s recommendations for federal policy.
