Dual enrollment in Arizona: the law behind it

The statute

A.R.S. section 15-1821.01

Dual enrollment information .

The section that decides almost everything a family asks about. Enrollment for college credit is limited to high school freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors who meet the course prerequisites and the college’s placement policies. A course qualifies only if it has been through the district’s curriculum approval process, sits at a higher level than the high school teaches, and either transfers to a university under the Board of Regents or applies to a community college occupational degree or certificate; physical education is excluded. The student generally has to be enrolled full time in high school, with an exception for a senior finishing graduation requirements on less than a full load and an exemption for homeschooled students. A full-time faculty advisory committee has to meet at least once a year to confirm the college’s own standards of expectation and assessment are being applied.

A.R.S. section 15-1821

Admission of students under eighteen; concurrent enrollment .

The other route, and the one Arizona calls concurrent enrollment: a student going to the college rather than the college coming to the high school. A community college must admit a student under eighteen without a diploma who meets the requirements of the courses being taken, and may not refuse admission for lack of concurrent enrollment in a school where the student has hit a specified college entrance examination score. The college may cap the load, though not below six semester credit hours, and admission to a course is not admission to a degree program.

Who pays, and under what authority

Senate Bill 1717 fiscal note, 2023

Arizona Legislature, fiscal note on dual enrollment funding .

How the two public bodies get paid for the same student, which is the arithmetic behind the price in the agreement. The school district counts the student in average daily membership and the community college counts a share of full-time student equivalent enrollment, and the agreement then divides the result. A family asking why one district charges nothing and the neighbouring one charges a rate per credit hour is asking about this split.

The agreement between the school and the college

Intergovernmental agreement under A.R.S. 15-1821.01

District and community college dual enrollment agreement .

The document that answers what a course costs, and the reason two Arizona families pay different amounts for the same credit. The statute requires the community college district governing board and the school district board to contract on a uniform format developed cooperatively by the state’s community college districts, and the agreement has to state the financial provisions, including how much full-time student equivalent funding the college received, what share went to the school district, and what came back. It also has to set student tuition and financial aid policies, accountability, the responsibilities of each side, and the titles and quality of the instruction.

Agency guidance

Dual enrollment

Arizona Department of Education, dual enrollment .

The department’s account of how the statute is applied in schools, including the distinction between a college course taught at the high school and a student taking a course on campus. It is the page to read alongside the community college’s own dual enrollment page, because the school and the college each administer a different half of the arrangement and each publishes only its own half.

Who administers it

These are the offices that answer a question about Arizona law rather than about one school or one campus. A district and a college can both be wrong about a state rule, and these pages are where the state's own position is published.

• Arizona Department of Education, dual enrollment · The school side of the program and the guidance districts follow.
• Arizona State Legislature, Arizona Revised Statutes · Where sections 15-1821 and 15-1821.01 are published.
• AZTransfer · The statewide transfer system that shows whether a course moves to an Arizona public university.
• Arizona Department of Education, student and family information · Where a family starts before contacting the partner community college.

Frequently asked

Does Arizona law let a freshman take a dual enrollment course?

Section 15-1821.01 says all students enrolled for college credit shall be high school freshmen, sophomores, juniors, or seniors. Meeting the prerequisites printed in the college catalog and the college’s placement policies is a separate hurdle, and it is the one most ninth graders meet last.

Where is the price set?

In the intergovernmental agreement between the community college district and the school district. The statute requires that agreement to state the financial provisions and the student tuition and financial aid policies, so the document is the only reliable answer to what a specific course costs.

Which courses does the statute rule out?

Physical education courses, anything at or below the level the high school already teaches, and any course that neither transfers to an Arizona public university nor applies to a community college occupational degree or certificate program.

Is there an Arizona administrative rule for dual enrollment?

None turned up. The statute and the local intergovernmental agreement do the work between them, which is why Arizona answers vary so much from county to county.

Does a student have to stay in high school full time?

Generally yes. The statute ties dual enrollment to full-time high school enrollment, exempts a senior who satisfies graduation requirements with less than a full instructional program, and exempts homeschooled students from the requirement.