Dual enrollment in Michigan: the law behind it

The statute

MCL 388.511 to 388.524

Postsecondary Enrollment Options Act, Act 160 of 1996 .

The academic side of Michigan dual enrollment, section by section. Section 388.513a puts a readiness assessment at the front of the program and gives the Superintendent of Public Instruction the job of setting qualifying scores. Section 388.517 requires the district to grant academic credit. Section 388.518 is the one to read when a course is refused: it covers enrollment without tuition and fee support, which is a student proceeding on their own money. Sections 388.515 and 388.516 handle athletics and enrollment priority.

MCL 388.1901 to 388.1913

Career and Technical Preparation Act, Act 258 of 2000 .

The parallel act for career and technical courses, effective April 2001 and built on the same frame. Section 388.1904 carries the enrolment requirements and the same prorated foundation allowance payment, section 388.1903a the readiness assessment, and section 388.1907 the academic credit. A family whose student is heading toward a certificate rather than a transfer degree is usually reading this act, even when the high school calls the program dual enrollment.

Who pays, and under what authority

MCL 388.514

Student eligibility, application, payment, and refund .

The section that decides what a family pays. It sets out eligibility, the application, the bill the college sends detailing eligible charges, and the district’s payment of a prorated percentage of the state foundation allowance toward it. Where a course costs more than that prorated share, the difference falls to the family, and where a student fails or withdraws the section also governs the refund and repayment side, which is the part that surprises people.

Agency guidance

MDE dual enrollment FAQ

Michigan Department of Education, Postsecondary Dual Enrollment Options FAQ .

The department translating both acts into answers a district office can use: eligibility, the payment rule, the limits on how many courses a student may take at each grade, and what happens when a student does not complete a course. It is the single most useful document in this list for a parent, because it states the per-grade course limits in one place.

How it got here

Michigan built the academic program first, in 1996, and added the career and technical one in 2000 with an effective date of April 2001. Both were later amended to extend dual enrollment to students in state-approved nonpublic schools, which is why a nonpublic school family now works from the same two acts as a public school one.

Who administers it

These are the offices that answer a question about Michigan 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.

• Michigan Department of Education · Publishes the dual enrollment guidance and the qualifying assessment scores.
• Michigan Legislature · Where both acts and their sections are published in full.
• University of Michigan Admissions, dual enrollment · How a selective Michigan university treats credit earned this way.

Frequently asked

Why are there two Michigan acts?

One covers academic courses and one covers career and technical ones. They run in parallel with the same payment structure, so the act that applies depends on the course, not on the student.

Is Michigan dual enrollment free?

Not always. The district pays a prorated percentage of the state foundation allowance toward eligible charges. A course priced above that leaves a balance, which is the most common Michigan surprise.

What happens if a student does not pass?

Section 388.514 covers refunds and repayment, and the Department of Education FAQ sets out how districts apply it. It is worth reading before a student registers rather than after.

Where are the per-grade course limits?

In the Department of Education FAQ rather than in the acts themselves, which is why that document is the one to bring to a counselor meeting.