Dual credit in Indiana: the law behind it

The statute

Ind. Code § 21-43-1-1

Indiana Code title 21, article 43, definitions . Article 43, chapter 1.

The definitions chapter the Department of Education cites when it explains what dual credit is in Indiana: a course in which a high school student earns high school credit and college credit at the same time, taught by a credentialed high school teacher or by college faculty, at the high school, on a campus, or online. The definitions carry through the rest of article 43, which is why a dispute about whether a course counts usually turns on the wording here rather than on a separate program statute.

Who pays, and under what authority

Dual credit attainment guidance, August 2023

Indiana Commission for Higher Education, dual credit attainment guidance .

The money document. It sets the per-credit rate a college may charge for a dual credit course and the reduced rate that applies to eligible students, which is the fact that turns an Indiana dual credit plan from a rough estimate into a number a family can budget. It also sets out the eligibility a student has to establish to get the reduced rate rather than the standard one.

Agency guidance

IDOE dual credit

Indiana Department of Education, Dual Credit .

The department’s working page on how dual credit is delivered and who may offer it, including both state institutions and regionally accredited private colleges. It names the statute and sets out the delivery models, which is the fastest way to tell whether a course a high school is advertising is dual credit or something adjacent, such as an articulated credit that only transfers to one college.

Purdue dual credit

Purdue University, dual credit program .

An example of the layer the state rules leave to the college. Purdue sets its own terms for dual credit, including covering full tuition for students who meet its criteria, which shows how far an individual institution can move the price below the state rate. Two Indiana colleges can price the same course differently, and a family should check the college before the state page.

Who administers it

These are the offices that answer a question about Indiana 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.

• Indiana Department of Education · Runs the high school side and publishes the course titles that carry dual credit.
• Indiana Commission for Higher Education · Sets the dual credit rate guidance and the eligibility for the reduced rate.
• Indiana General Assembly · Where Indiana Code title 21 and the dual credit definitions are published.

Frequently asked

Does Indiana have an administrative rule for dual credit?

Indiana materials point at 511 IAC 6-10 for postsecondary courses offered for dual credit, but no version of that rule turned up at an address on a state domain. Until one does, the Commission for Higher Education guidance is the operating document.

What does a dual credit course cost in Indiana?

A per-credit rate set in the Commission for Higher Education guidance, with a reduced rate for eligible students, and sometimes less than that where the college chooses to cover it.

Does every Indiana high school have to offer dual credit?

Indiana requires each high school to offer a minimum of two dual credit courses, which is the floor a family can hold a school to when told none are available.

Is a private college’s dual credit the same thing?

It can be. The Department of Education says both state institutions and regionally accredited private colleges may offer dual credit, so the question to ask is where the credit is transcripted.