Guides · State programs · By FastTrack Advising

Dual enrollment in Florida, explained for parents

Published September 13, 2026 · Updated September 17, 2026

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Florida dual enrollment is tuition-free for eligible students at public colleges and universities, and public school students get textbooks covered by the district. To take college credit courses a student needs a 3.0 unweighted high school GPA and a qualifying score on the PERT, SAT, or ACT. Career dual enrollment courses need a 2.0. Each district's articulation agreement with its college can add requirements.

Who: Florida public, private, and home education students who meet the GPA and test bar
GPA: 3.0 unweighted for college credit courses, 2.0 for career courses
Test: Qualifying PERT, SAT, or ACT score
Tuition: Free
Textbooks: Covered by the district for public school students
The law: Fla. Stat. § 1007.271 and 3 more

Is my teen eligible?

A student needs a 3.0 unweighted high school GPA for college credit courses, or a 2.0 for career dual enrollment, and a college-ready score on the PERT, SAT, or ACT at the levels the state sets in rule. The articulation agreement between your district and its partner college can add requirements on top of those, which can include specific course prerequisites or a limit on how many courses a student takes at once.

The unweighted GPA is the first number we ask a Florida family to pull, because the 3.0 in the statute is unweighted and a weighted 3.4 can sit on top of an unweighted 2.9. Ask the counselor for the unweighted number before you assume.

Public, private, and home education students are all eligible under the statute. Home education families work directly with the college on the paperwork.

What does it cost?

Tuition is free by state law for eligible students. For public school students the district also pays for textbooks, so the family sees no bill for the course. Private and home education students have their tuition covered but the textbook arrangement runs differently; ask the college's dual enrollment office how it handles books for your situation.

Lab fees at some colleges, parking on campus, and transportation can still cost money, and while none of those are large, it is worth asking about them before the term starts.

Through the high school. Florida requires the district and the college to have a written articulation agreement, and the counselor works inside it. Expect to submit a dual enrollment application to the college, test scores, a transcript, and a permission form signed by the school and a parent, on the college's deadline for the term. The college deadline is usually well before the high school schedule is finalized, so start in the spring for fall.

What common course numbering does

Within Florida's public system the credit transfers well. The state uses a common course numbering system, so a course taken at a Florida College System institution has the same number and is treated as the same course at Florida public universities. Out of state and at private universities the common number means nothing, and the receiving college decides on its own.

Where did Florida's dual enrollment program come from?

Florida's dual enrollment statute dates to 1987, chapter 87-212, which created an "articulated acceleration" framework that bundled dual enrollment with early admission, Advanced Placement, credit by exam, and the International Baccalaureate. It was written as a coordination arrangement between community colleges and districts rather than as a student's right, and districts could limit who took part. The disclosure requirements and the rule that credit has to be recognized arrived with the 2000 reforms. So the program your teen uses is a 1987 idea with a 2000 spine, and the articulation agreement between your district and its college is still where the specifics live.

Questions to ask your counselor

Bring these to the first meeting. The answers decide most of the plan.

What is my teen's unweighted GPA, and does it meet the 3.0 line?
If it does not, which career dual enrollment courses are open at the 2.0 line?
What does our district's articulation agreement add beyond the state minimums?
What is the college's application deadline for next term, and when is the PERT offered?
How are textbooks handled for us, and is there a lab or parking fee?

Frequently asked

Is dual enrollment free in Florida?

Tuition is free for eligible students by state law. Public school students also get textbooks paid for by the district. Private and home education students should ask the college about books.

What GPA do you need for dual enrollment in Florida?

A 3.0 unweighted high school GPA for college credit courses, or a 2.0 unweighted for career dual enrollment, plus a qualifying PERT, SAT, or ACT score.

What test scores do you need for Florida dual enrollment?

A college-ready score on the PERT, SAT, or ACT at the minimums set in Florida Administrative Code Rule 6A-10.0315. The college's dual enrollment page lists the current cutoffs.

Can homeschoolers do dual enrollment in Florida?

Yes. Students in a home education program are eligible under the statute and work with the college directly on the paperwork.

Do Florida dual enrollment credits transfer?

Within Florida's public colleges and universities, yes, because the state's common course numbering system treats a course with the same number as the same course. Out of state and at private universities, the receiving college decides.

Sources

Florida Department of Education, Dual Enrollment · the statute, the articulation agreements, and the cost rules
Florida International University, dual enrollment eligibility · an example of the GPA and test requirements as a college applies them
Broward College, dual enrollment eligibility
Florida House of Representatives, Dual Enrollment fact sheet (2001) · chapter 87-212 and the 2000 reforms

Rules change. These were checked September 2026. Confirm the current version with your school before you act on any of it.

About FastTrack Advising

FastTrack Advising. FastTrack Advising works on dual enrollment and nothing else. We help families choose college courses a high schooler can take now that will still count toward the degree later, we check every course against the transfer rules of the colleges they name, and we stay in the picture through registration so the plan gets used. When the answer for a student is to wait a term, we say that too.

Colleges in Florida

All colleges

Valencia College (Orlando) Free for Orange and Osceola county families, including required books, on a 3.0 unweighted GPA and a test score no older than two years. Thirteen credits a term in fall and spring.
Broward College (Fort Lauderdale) Free for Broward County families, textbooks included, on a 3.0 unweighted GPA and college-ready scores. A signed recommendation form goes in every term, and a single D or F ends participation.
Hillsborough College (Tampa) Up to 10 credits a term for Hillsborough County students on a 3.0 unweighted GPA, with no course under 3 credits allowed and one petition for the whole time your teen is in the program.
Palm Beach State College (Lake Worth) Open from sixth grade with four high school credits banked, free including course materials, capped at 8 credits a semester across five campuses. Spring 2027 authorization closes November 30, 2026.
University of Florida (Gainesville) A statewide online program for juniors and seniors in 28 participating districts, gated at a 3.6 unweighted GPA and a national test score. Two courses a semester, fall and spring only.

Other state programs

All state programs

PSEO (Minnesota) Free tuition, books, and required fees for 10th through 12th graders at about 60 colleges, with a May 30 notice deadline that many families miss.
Running Start (Washington) Tuition-free college courses for juniors and seniors at Washington's community and technical colleges and a few universities. Families still pay fees and books, and the student gets to campus on their own.
College Credit Plus (Ohio) Open to 7th through 12th graders, free at Ohio public colleges for public school students, with an April 1 letter of intent and a 30-credit annual cap.
Dual credit (Texas) Free at most large community colleges, and capped at $60.10 a credit hour in tuition at FAST colleges. Students with free or reduced lunch in the last five years pay nothing there.
Dual enrollment (California) Community college courses for 9th through 12th graders through a district partnership called CCAP, with no enrollment fees and no textbook costs, capped at 15 units a term.
Dual Enrollment (Georgia) State funding covers tuition, fees, and books for 30 semester hours, mostly for juniors and seniors. After 30 hours the family pays the college's rate, and ninth graders are outside the program entirely.
Career & College Promise (North Carolina) Tuition paid by the state at community colleges for juniors and seniors with a 2.8 unweighted GPA. Whether the district covers fees and books, and who drives, varies by district.
Concurrent Enrollment (Colorado) Open to 9th through 12th graders with an approved academic plan. The district pays tuition at the community college rate; books and fees are usually the family's, and so is getting to campus.
Dual credit (Illinois) Governed by the Dual Credit Quality Act and a model agreement between each district and college. Whether your teen pays depends on that agreement.
Early College Credit and Start College Now (Wisconsin) Two programs, one for the technical colleges and one for universities, both for juniors and seniors. The district pays most or all of the tuition, and applications are due March 1 for fall and October 1 for spring.
Dual credit (Indiana) Every Indiana high school has to offer dual credit. Priority courses at public colleges cost at most $25 a credit hour, and nothing for students on free or reduced lunch.
Dual enrollment (Michigan) Grades 9 through 12, for courses the high school doesn't offer. The district pays tuition up to a state-set share; anything above it, plus books, is yours. Ten courses across high school.
Dual Enrollment (Alabama) Rising 10th through 12th graders with a 2.5 GPA, at $133 a credit hour plus fees, with a state scholarship that covers some courses when the legislature funds it. No credit cap at all.
Dual Enrollment (Tennessee) The lottery-funded Dual Enrollment Grant pays up to $620.55 for each of the first five courses, then much less. One June 30 application covers the whole academic year.
Dual enrollment (Pennsylvania) Every school entity has to hold at least one dual credit agreement, and none of them has to pay for the courses. The agreement states the cost, and published rates run from $83.50 to $230 a credit.
Dual enrollment (Virginia) Juniors and seniors at the community colleges. Courses on a College and Career Ready Virginia pathway cost the family nothing, and courses outside it are billed at the college rate.
Dual enrollment (Arizona) A community college course taught inside the high school during the school day. Concurrent enrollment is the separate arrangement where the student goes to the college. Price is set district by district.
Dual enrollment (South Carolina) College courses through the state's 16 technical colleges, priced by each college and district, with Lottery Tuition Assistance covering part of the tuition once a student carries six credit hours in a term.
Dual enrollment (Louisiana) A Board of Regents floor for eligibility, four ways to clear it, and a bill the district assembles out of state and federal funds. TOPS Tech Early Start covers career courses for juniors and seniors.
Dual enrollment (Maryland) The Blueprint moved the bill off families for students who meet the College and Career Readiness Standard, and set a floor of two covered courses each fall and spring. Counties add their own terms on top.
Concurrent Enrollment (Utah) College courses for $5 a credit hour, taught mostly inside the high school by a college-approved teacher. Each college sets its own admission bar, and books are still yours.
Concurrent Enrollment (Oklahoma) Juniors and seniors get tuition waived by the State Regents, 18 credit hours a year for seniors and 9 for juniors. Fees and books stay with the family, and each college sets its own entrance bar.
Dual enrollment (New York) No single statewide program. CUNY's College Now is free for New York City public school students, SUNY campuses price their own, and a new state rule makes districts file their partnership agreements in 2026.
Dual enrollment (Massachusetts) Two state programs. CDEP waives tuition and fees at public campuses for eligible high schoolers, mostly in the spring, and designated Early College builds the courses into the school day at no cost.
Concurrent Enrollment (Iowa) College courses run through a district contract with a community college, at no tuition cost to the family. Iowa also runs PSEO, and the two programs treat a failed course differently.
Concurrent Credit (Arkansas) State policy bars a college from billing the family for tuition, fees, or materials on a concurrent credit course. A 2025 scholarship replaced the old Concurrent Challenge grant and pays $65 a credit hour.
Dual Enrollment and Dual Credit (Mississippi) Mississippi separates the two terms in statute. Dual enrollment earns college credit only; dual credit earns high school credit too, and the distinction decides whether the course helps your teen graduate.
Dual Enrollment (Nebraska) Nebraska has no single statewide program, so the price depends on which college your high school partners with. The ACE scholarship covers tuition and mandatory fees for students who qualify on income.
Dual Credit (New Mexico) A statewide program where the college charges no tuition and the school district buys the books, though the tuition waiver lives in rule rather than in statute. Families pay special course fees and transportation.
Early College (Maine) Maine pays college tuition for high schoolers through the Aspirations Program, and the class of 2027 forward gets 18 tuition-free credits for the whole of high school.
Dual and Concurrent Enrollment (New Hampshire) The statute funds up to four courses in each of grades 10, 11, and 12. The community college scholarship covers two a year, and most of those courses are taught inside the high school.
Dual Enrollment (Vermont) Two vouchers, each covering tuition on a college course of up to four credits, for any Vermont student who has finished grade 10, including home study students.
Dual credit (West Virginia) A state-funded pilot pays tuition and academic fees for courses on approved career pathways, for public, private, charter, microschool, learning pod, and homeschool students alike.
Dual enrollment (Delaware) No statewide program makes it free. State regulation puts the policy on every district and charter, bars turning a student away over money, and most courses run through Delaware Tech.
Dual enrollment (New Jersey) No statewide free tuition. Public colleges must sign dual enrollment agreements and districts choose whether to join, so the price and the eligibility rules come from your own county college.
Dual enrollment (Connecticut) A board policy rather than a statute sets the rules. Concurrent credit courses are capped at $50 a credit, CT State covers two courses a semester for qualifying juniors and seniors, and UConn ECE has run since 1955.
Accelerated learning (Oregon) Oregon calls the whole category accelerated learning. Dual credit at the high school is free or close to it at most community colleges, and Expanded Options moves a junior or senior onto a campus at no charge to the student.
Dual enrollment (Nevada) Every district has to run a dual credit program, and no statute says who pays for it, so the price runs from $25 a credit at the high school to $154 on a university campus.
Concurrent enrollment (Kansas) Concurrent enrollment means the college course is taught at the high school, and it is not free by default. Excel in CTE pays tuition for approved technical courses, and a district board may cover the rest if it chooses to.
Dual Credit (Kentucky) A published $99 ceiling on what a college may charge a high school student, a statutory formula that reads differently, and a scholarship that funds two general education courses across junior and senior year.
Dual Credit (Missouri) Missouri draws a line between dual credit and dual enrollment based on who teaches, and the price and the GPA tier both follow from that.
Dual Credit (Idaho) Every Idaho public school student gets $4,625 to spend on college credit between grades 7 and 12, and the fund pays $75 a credit, which is what colleges charge.
Dual Credit (North Dakota) Tuition is the family's here, at a reduced rate that changes with who teaches the course, and Bank of North Dakota covers two courses a year for students on free or reduced lunch.
Dual Credit (South Dakota) Juniors and seniors split a deeply reduced tuition rate with the state, at $80.37 a credit hour, under a statute with a hard rule about what happens if a course goes badly.
Dual and Concurrent Enrollment (Rhode Island) A state fund covers tuition and fees for part-time college courses at the three public institutions, and the statute behind it caps that fund at whatever the budget appropriates each year.
Early College and Running Start (Hawaii) Two programs run off one statute that never says who pays. Early College comes to the high school and the school usually covers it; Running Start puts the student on a UH campus at that campus’s published rate.
Dual Enrollment (Alaska) No state program and no state money behind it. What a college course costs an Alaska family depends on which University of Alaska campus offers it and whether the school district signed an agreement.
Dual Enrollment (Montana) The first two courses or six credits carry no tuition anywhere in the Montana University System, fees are waived, and everything after that costs half of resident two-year tuition, around $60 a credit.
Dual and Concurrent Enrollment (Wyoming) State law bars a college from charging a participating student for textbooks, materials, student services, or any other fee, and from 2026-27 the state starts reimbursing districts for what it costs them.

Planning Dual enrollment for your teen?

Save this page and the state's deadlines show up on your own My FastTrack page, next to the tools. The law page saves separately, for the day a school gives an answer that does not match the statute. Which courses to take, in which order, so the credits still count at the college your teen ends up at, is the part we do with families.

Save to My FastTrack