Dual enrollment law, state by state
Every state runs dual enrollment under statute; what differs is how much the statute says. In 35 of the 50 states an administrative rule sits under it, and in the rest guidance, a board policy, or an agreement fills in the detail. Where a board rule or policy does most of the work, the row says so. The District of Columbia has its own row. Every citation links to the official text.
Download the table as a spreadsheet (CSV) · What each state's program costs and who qualifies · Every deadline, by month
How to read the table
Each row is one law page in brief: every section of code the page cites, the administrative rule under them, and the office that runs the program. The law page itself gives a paragraph to every document it cites, saying what that document decides, and lists the sources it was checked against.
The statute column takes a code section from whichever heading the law page files it under, so a scholarship act or a payment section appears beside the statute that sets up the program. Where no section was written for dual enrollment, the column names the general authority the program's rule or policy is adopted under.
Where the rule column says none cited, the law page cites no administrative rule. Several of those pages say outright that none exists, Minnesota and California among them, and that the working detail sits in agency guidance or in a college system's own procedure instead.
Where a rule or policy does the work
In some states the statute sets the frame and a board rule, a board policy, or the college's own terms set up the program itself. The note in those rows names it:
- Alabama. Section 16-1-42.1 lets a parent require the district to allow approved courses, and State Board rule 290-3-1-.02(11) and a community college procedure set the terms.
- Alaska. The statutes cover vocational dual credit agreements and a scholarship tax credit. The state board’s graduation rule leaves high school credit to the local board, and University of Alaska policy sets the price.
- Connecticut. CSCU Board of Regents Policy 2.08, adopted under the board’s policy power in section 10a-6, sets the terms, including the fifty dollar cap on concurrent credit.
- Delaware. A Department of Education regulation sets up the program under the general powers in section 122. Section 181 sets the goal of a smooth move into college without naming dual enrollment.
- Nebraska. The Access College Early Scholarship Program Act pays tuition and fees for students who qualify on income. Each college sets the terms of its own program under its board’s powers.
- New York. Education Law 319 defines the program as a partnership between a school and a college, and the Commissioner's regulation sets the statewide policy.
- Tennessee. Tenn. Code 49-4-930 creates the Dual Enrollment Grant, and the rule sets its terms. Admission to a course stays with the college.
- Washington, DC. OSSE's regulation, 5-A DCMR Chapter 24, sets up the program under the rulemaking power in D.C. Code 38-2602, which also lets OSSE fund dual enrollment through grants and scholarships.
Use and cite this table
The table downloads as a spreadsheet, laws.csv, with one row per state and every citation beside its link. To cite it, name FastTrack Advising, the title "Dual enrollment law, state by state", this address, and the date it was updated, November 9, 2026.
Legislatures amend these sections in session, and boards revise their rules between sessions. Before relying on a citation, open it: every link goes to the legislature's or the agency's own text. The law pages record the month their sources were read, and a state page's own sources carry the deadlines and prices this table leaves out.
Knowing the law is the first half. 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.