Dual enrollment in Massachusetts: the law behind it

The statute

M.G.L. c. 15A, § 39

Secondary education students qualified to enroll in higher education institutions .

The idea fits in four sentences. A qualified student enrolled in a public secondary school may enroll at a Massachusetts public institution of higher education and shall earn both secondary school and college credits, full time or one course at a time. It leaves the definition of a qualified student, the admission criteria, and the administration of the program to the board of education in consultation with the board of higher education, which is why the operating detail lives in guidelines rather than in law. Nonpublic school students may take part, with the crediting of that work toward a high school diploma left to the nonpublic school alone.

Who pays, and under what authority

Line item 7066-0019, fiscal year 2026

Dual Enrollment Grant and Subsidies .

The appropriation that makes the Commonwealth Dual Enrollment Partnership free at the counter, $13,100,000 in the fiscal year 2026 budget. The language directs the Department of Higher Education to support the program, allows courses to be offered in high schools as well as on campus or online where enrollment is sufficient, gives preference in early college grants to public institutions, and permits summer spending. Because the amount is set each year and allocated campus by campus, meeting the eligibility rules puts a student in the pool for a seat.

Line item 7066-9600, fiscal year 2026

Inclusive Concurrent Enrollment .

A separate $5,000,000 grant program, and the one families of students with disabilities should look at rather than the main line. It funds partnerships between districts and public colleges serving students with severe disabilities between 18 and 22, and it covers tuition waivers, employment support, and evaluation. A district that says its dual enrollment program does not fit a particular student may be looking at the wrong line item.

Agency guidance

Commonwealth Dual Enrollment Partnership

Massachusetts Department of Higher Education, CDEP .

The eligibility and cost rules for the main program, stated by the department that funds it. A student has to be a Massachusetts resident enrolled in a public or nonpublic secondary school, including home school, without a diploma or a GED, and able to meet the course prerequisites the campus sets. Students pay no tuition and no fees, though a campus may charge a nominal admission fee such as $25, which can be waived, and students with demonstrated need may get help with books, supplies, and transportation. The department also states that meeting the guidelines does not guarantee a seat.

Massachusetts Early College Initiative

Department of Higher Education, Early College designation .

The second and newer route, and the one built into the school day. Designation runs through the Early College Joint Committee, and a partnership has to meet five design principles: equitable access aimed at underrepresented students, academic pathways aligned to college and career, enhanced academic and advising support, connections to career through workplace learning, and deep partnership between the high school and the college. Whether a high school holds designation is the single most useful thing to ask, because a designated program is free to the family and built into the schedule.

How it got here

The Early College designation framework came from a board vote rather than a bill. The Board of Higher Education and the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education approved a joint resolution on January 24, 2017 creating the Early College Joint Committee and charging it with designing, developing, and coordinating a Massachusetts early college program. The designation criteria a high school applies under today trace back to that resolution.

Who administers it

These are the offices that answer a question about Massachusetts 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.

• Massachusetts Department of Higher Education · Administers CDEP and co-chairs the Early College Joint Committee.
• Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Early College · The school-side page on designation and the pathways it belongs to.
• MassTransfer · How the credit moves among Massachusetts public campuses afterward.

Frequently asked

Is there a Massachusetts regulation for dual enrollment?

None turned up in 603 CMR, the elementary and secondary education regulations. The statute hands administration to the two boards, so the rules sit in Department of Higher Education guidelines and in the Early College designation criteria.

Does the statute say dual enrollment is free?

No. Chapter 15A section 39 says nothing about price. The Department of Higher Education states that CDEP students pay no tuition and no fees, and the budget line item is what pays for that.

Can a nonpublic school student take part?

Yes. The statute makes nonpublic secondary school students eligible, and leaves it to the nonpublic school alone to decide whether the college work counts toward its diploma. CDEP guidelines reach home school students as well.

What is the difference between CDEP and Early College?

CDEP waives tuition and fees for individual courses a student takes at a public campus. Early College is a designated partnership that builds a sequence of college courses into the school day at no cost to the family.