Dual enrollment in Maryland: the law behind it

The statute

Md. Code, Educ. section 15-127

Dually enrolled students .

The section that takes the student out of the transaction. A dually enrolled student is one enrolled at the same time in a Maryland secondary school and a Maryland institution of higher education, and a public institution may not charge that student tuition. The county board then pays three-quarters of the tuition cost for a student attending a public school in the county. Where a written agreement predating July 1, 2020 set the county share lower, that older agreement governs, and the school and the college may evaluate and modify it every two years, which is why the split at one community college differs from the next.

Md. Code, Educ. section 7-205.1

College and Career Readiness Standard and Post-CCR pathways .

The Blueprint provision that changed who pays. The goal is for a student to meet the College and Career Readiness Standard by the end of tenth grade, and once met the student enters a pathway at no cost to the student or the student’s parents, including the cost of any fees. One of the named pathways is an early college program or dual enrollment leading to an associate degree or at least 60 credits toward a bachelor’s degree. The same section lets the State Board and the Accountability and Implementation Board limit the number and types of courses for fiscal years 2025 through 2027 while funding phases in.

Md. Code, Educ. section 18-14A-01

Early College Access Grant .

A separate grant for dually enrolled students, administered by the Maryland Higher Education Commission with the institutions and awarded on financial need the Commission defines. It sits outside the county share arrangement, so a family whose costs are not covered by the school system has a second place to ask. Confirm with the college’s financial aid office whether the grant is funded for the year in question before counting on it.

Who pays, and under what authority

Md. Code, Educ. section 5-217

College and career readiness per pupil funding .

The formula the joint policy is measured against. The state sends school systems a per pupil amount for college and career readiness, and the State Board and the Accountability and Implementation Board wrote the two-course minimum because the cost of tuition and fees for students who have met the standard can run past what that formula delivers in fiscal 2026 and 2027. A county offering more than the minimum is spending beyond the formula.

Agency guidance

Joint Implementation Policy #1, revised September 30, 2025

Maryland State Board of Education and Accountability and Implementation Board, dual enrollment .

The document that says how many courses a school system actually has to pay for. For a student who has met the readiness standard, the local education agency covers at minimum two dual enrollment courses each fall and each spring semester, for four a year, plus first-attempt exam fees directly connected to those courses. Systems may pay for more. Anything beyond the minimum, and any summer course, is the family’s cost. A student who has not met the standard still gets initial access, defined as the first two courses of a pathway. The policy runs from fiscal 2025 through fiscal 2027.

College and Career Readiness Standard policy, March 2025

Maryland State Board of Education, CCR Standard .

The routes a student can take to meet the standard that unlocks the free pathway, revised in March 2025 to add options starting in the 2025-2026 school year. Because meeting the standard is what moves the bill off the family, working out which route is closest for a particular student is the highest-value hour a Maryland parent can spend on this.

How it got here

The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future wrote section 7-205.1 into the Education Article and set the readiness standard and the pathways behind it. Chapter 164 of 2024, effective June 1, 2024, amended that section to let the State Board and the Accountability and Implementation Board limit dual enrollment course numbers for fiscal years 2025 through 2027 while funding phases in. The joint policy was adopted in May 2024 and revised on September 30, 2025 to extend through fiscal 2027.

Who administers it

These are the offices that answer a question about Maryland 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.

• Maryland State Department of Education · Adopts the readiness standard and joins the joint dual enrollment policy.
• Accountability and Implementation Board · The Blueprint oversight body that signs the joint policy with the State Board.
• Maryland Higher Education Commission · Administers state aid, including the grant for dually enrolled students.
• Maryland General Assembly, statute text · Where sections 15-127, 7-205.1, and 18-14A-01 are published.

Frequently asked

Does the statute say dual enrollment is free?

Section 15-127 says a public institution of higher education may not charge tuition to a dually enrolled student, and puts 75 percent of the cost on the county board. Section 7-205.1 goes further for a student who has met the readiness standard, promising no cost including fees.

How many courses does a school system have to cover?

Two per fall semester and two per spring, plus first-attempt exam fees, under Joint Implementation Policy #1. A system may pay for more. A fifth course, or any summer course, is the family’s cost unless the county decides otherwise.

What if a student has not met the readiness standard yet?

The joint policy gives those students initial access to a pathway, defined in the 2025 standard policy as the first two courses, including developmental or corequisite dual enrollment courses and introductory career and technical courses.

Why does my county pay less than 75 percent?

Section 15-127 preserves a written agreement made before July 1, 2020 that set the county share lower, and lets the school and the college revisit it every two years. The split at your community college may be an old local number.

What changes after fiscal 2027?

The joint policy states that it runs from fiscal 2025 through fiscal 2027, and the statutory authority to limit course numbers is written for the same years. What replaces it is a decision for the State Board and the Accountability and Implementation Board.