PSEO in Minnesota: Postsecondary Enrollment Options, explained for parents

Is my teen eligible?

It depends on the grade. Juniors and seniors have to meet the entrance requirements of the college they want to enroll at, and each college sets its own. Some use GPA, some use class rank, some use a test score. The bar is on the college's PSEO admissions page, and it is worth reading rather than assuming, because two colleges twenty minutes apart can ask for different things.

Sophomores have a narrower door. A 10th grader can take one career and technical education course at a Minnesota State college or university if they scored "meets" or "exceeds" on the 8th grade reading MCA. Earn a C or better in that course and they can take more.

9th and 10th graders have one more route. They can enroll in a college course the district offers under an agreement with a college, if the district and the college both agree to take them, or if it is a world language course the district already opens to juniors and seniors. The counselor knows whether such a course exists in your district.

Nonpublic and home school students are eligible too. The paperwork runs a little differently, and the state has a separate page for it, linked below.

Where can your teen take PSEO?

At about 60 colleges and universities. The state's list covers all 26 Minnesota State colleges and its seven state universities, all five University of Minnesota campuses, three tribal colleges, and 18 private colleges, among them Augsburg, Bethel, Concordia St. Paul, Gustavus, Hamline, St. Catherine, and the University of Northwestern–St. Paul. Several well-known private colleges are not on it: St. Thomas, Macalester, St. Olaf, Carleton, and Saint John's and Saint Benedict.

Admission bars vary more than most families expect. Minnesota State's default puts juniors in the top third of their class or at the 70th percentile on a national test, and seniors in the top half or at the 50th percentile, and lets each campus accept other proof of readiness, which is where the GPA cutoffs below come from. The University of Minnesota Twin Cities sits at the far end, with a 3.9 unweighted GPA for juniors and 3.7 for seniors, one application window each spring, and about 1,700 applicants a year.

What does PSEO cost?

The core of it costs nothing. There is no charge to the student for tuition, for books, or for fees on items required to take the course.

You can still end up paying in a few situations. Equipment that becomes your teen's property when the course ends is on you. So is a textbook that doesn't get returned to the college under its policy. And if you miss the notice deadline and the district doesn't waive it, the family can be responsible for tuition. That last one is the expensive mistake, and the next section is about avoiding it.

Getting to campus, parking, housing, and meals are the family's to cover as well. So is a course taken for college credit only rather than for high school credit, because the state pays for PSEO courses taken for secondary credit.

What is the May 30 deadline?

You have to tell your high school that your teen intends to enroll in PSEO by May 30 for the fall term, or October 30 for spring. The form is the PSEO Notice of Student Registration, one for each college and each term. The district can waive a late notice, but it doesn't have to, and if it doesn't, tuition can fall to you.

We tell families to put May 30 on the calendar in the winter, because the college application, transcript, and placement steps all take time, and a fall course usually needs the whole spring to set up.

The college's own application deadline is a separate date and often an earlier one. The University of Minnesota Twin Cities closes its PSEO applications in mid-April and Metropolitan State in mid-March, so a family that works back from May 30 alone can miss the college entirely.

How much PSEO can your teen take?

State law caps it by the grade your teen starts in: up to three school years of PSEO for a student who starts in 10th grade, two for one who starts in 11th, and one for a 12th grader, reduced in proportion for a student who starts partway through a year. The cap does not apply to a student the school finds is not on track to graduate.

Within a term there is no state limit on credits, and the college sets its own. Normandale allows 18 credits, Century 19, and the University of Minnesota Duluth four courses. A junior or senior can go full time at the college and take no high school classes at all.

PSEO has to replace part of the high school day. The state pays only for a student who is not already in high school classes for every available hour, so a full high school schedule leaves no room for a state-paid college course.

Does PSEO cover summer classes?

No. PSEO pays for fall and spring terms, and the state does not pay for summer courses. Some colleges let high school students take summer classes at full price, including Normandale and the University of Minnesota Rochester, while others, such as the University of Minnesota Duluth and St. Cloud State, keep PSEO students to fall and spring.

The summer after senior year carries a second risk for a student headed to the University of Minnesota, covered under applying to college below.

Can your teen take PSEO online?

Yes. State law requires a college to let PSEO students into its online courses on the same terms as its own college students, so online PSEO is as available as the college's online catalog. The University of Northwestern–St. Paul runs one of the largest online PSEO programs, with more than 60 online courses and no faith requirement for its online students, and the University of Minnesota Morris, Crown College, Concordia St. Paul, and Bethel all offer online PSEO. At the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, online seats are hard for a new PSEO student to get.

Online courses count the same way as on-campus ones: the same college transcript, the same high school credit, and the same grade on both records.

Does the credit count for high school?

Yes, and the law sets the exchange rate. The high school has to grant credit for a completed PSEO course and count it toward graduation and subject requirements, and four semester credits, or seven quarter credits, equal at least one full year of high school credit. The course and its grade go on the high school transcript, marked as earned at a college.

Weighting is written down too. Since 2024 each school board has to weight PSEO grades exactly as it weights College in the Schools grades, say whether it weights grades at all, and publish its list of weighted courses on its website every year. If a counselor says PSEO grades are unweighted while concurrent enrollment grades are weighted, the district policy is out of line with the statute.

Whether the college credit later transfers to the university your teen ends up at is a separate question, and it is the one that matters most for the money. The PSEO case studies below check real course lists against the published requirements of specific Minnesota programs.

What happens if your teen fails or drops a PSEO course?

The state does not pay the college for a course your teen officially drops in the first ten business days of the college term, so that is the window to change a schedule. After it, a withdrawal usually shows as a W on the college transcript, and the high school grants no credit for the course.

A failed course costs the family nothing in tuition. What it costs is the record: the F sits on the college transcript, the high school grants credit only for a completed course, and if your teen later enrolls at that same college, the grade counts toward the academic progress check that federal financial aid depends on. The University of Minnesota says so outright for PSEO courses taken there. The state will pay for a failed course to be retaken while the student is still eligible, though not to repeat a low passing grade.

How do we get there?

That is on you, with one exception. If your family meets the federal poverty guidelines, the district must reimburse mileage for a PSEO student driving to a campus, at 15 cents a mile and up to 250 miles a week, when a parent asks for it. The 250-mile cap lifts if the nearest college is more than 25 miles from home or school. It applies to public, nonpublic, and home school students. Nobody will offer it; you have to request it from the district.

Between college classes, your teen can stay at the high school. State law requires the school to let a PSEO student remain on site during the school day and to give reasonable access to a computer and the other technology the college coursework needs.

Will your teen apply to college as a freshman?

Yes, in Minnesota. A student who takes PSEO while in high school still applies as a first-year student at the University of Minnesota, at the Minnesota State universities, and at the private colleges, because a transfer applicant is someone who enrolled in college after finishing high school. St. Cloud State, Minnesota State Mankato, and Winona State say their graduating PSEO students compete for first-year scholarships too.

The trap is the summer after graduation. The University of Minnesota warns that a college course taken after high school graduation, summer included, cancels an admitted student's first-year offer and sends them back through admissions as a transfer student. Finish the PSEO plan before the diploma arrives.

What is the difference between PSEO and College in the Schools?

The difference is where the class happens and who teaches it. In PSEO your teen enrolls at the college and sits in a college course with college students, on campus or online, taught and graded by college faculty. In concurrent enrollment, which Minnesota often calls College in the Schools or CIS, the college course is taught at the high school by a high school teacher who has been credentialed by the college and works with its faculty. Both earn high school and college credit, and both are free to the student.

The practical difference is on the transcript and in transfer. A PSEO course looks exactly like any other course from that college. A CIS course does too, on paper, but some universities read a course taught inside a high school differently when they decide what to accept. If your teen is aiming at a selective or out-of-state university, check how it treats concurrent enrollment credit before choosing between the two.

Where did PSEO come from?

PSEO began in 1985 as the surviving piece of Gov. Rudy Perpich's "Access to Excellence" plan. The Legislature stripped statewide open enrollment from his package that spring, then passed the college course provision in a June special session as Article 5 of Chapter 12 of the 1985 First Special Session laws. It was the first statewide dual enrollment program in the country, and it passed with authors from both parties in a Republican House and a DFL Senate.

The original law already had the shape families run into today. The student and family made the choice, the state paid the college directly and deducted that amount from the district's aid, the district had to grant the credit, and the college could not charge for books. That funding deduction is why a district can be cool on PSEO, and it has been there since the first day. In the first year, 3,528 students enrolled, about three percent of eligible juniors and seniors, and more than half of them took twelve or more credits.

The program has grown with the state. In fiscal 2024, 13,950 students took state-paid PSEO courses, up from 11,189 two years earlier, and the state paid colleges $48.6 million for 205,772 credits at 55 institutions, about $236 a credit. The largest single recipient was the University of Northwestern–St. Paul, at $6.1 million.

Questions to ask your counselor

Bring these to the first meeting. The answers decide most of the plan.

• Which colleges does our high school already work with for PSEO, and what does each one require for admission?
• Which PSEO courses count toward our graduation requirements, and which only count as electives?
• What is our district's policy on late notices after May 30?
• Does our district weight grades, and are PSEO grades weighted the same as College in the Schools grades? Where is the weighted course list posted?
• Which courses are offered as College in the Schools here, and which would need PSEO at the college?
• Where can my teen work at the high school between college classes?
• Does our family qualify for PSEO mileage reimbursement, and what form starts it?

Frequently asked

Is PSEO free in Minnesota?

Yes for tuition, books, and required fees in fall and spring. Families can still pay for equipment that becomes theirs, for unreturned textbooks, for summer courses, and for tuition if the May 30 or October 30 notice deadline is missed and the district does not waive it.

What does PSEO stand for?

Postsecondary Enrollment Options, the name of Minnesota's dual enrollment law since 1985. The same letters also name an unrelated Census Bureau data set on graduates' earnings, Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes.

Can a 10th grader do PSEO?

Yes, one career and technical education course at a Minnesota State college or university to start, if they scored "meets" or "exceeds" on the 8th grade reading MCA. A grade of C or better opens the door to more courses.

Can a 9th grader do PSEO?

Only through a college course the district offers under an agreement with a college, when the district and the college both agree to enroll the student, or through a world language course the district already opens to juniors and seniors. Many colleges, the University of Minnesota among them, take no 9th or 10th graders.

What are the PSEO eligibility requirements for juniors and seniors?

Whatever the enrolling college requires. Minnesota State's default is the top third of the class or the 70th percentile on a national test for juniors, and the top half or the 50th percentile for seniors, and many colleges accept a GPA instead, from about 2.5 for seniors to 3.9 for juniors at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities.

What GPA do you need for PSEO at the University of Minnesota?

At the Twin Cities campus, a 3.9 unweighted GPA for juniors and 3.7 for seniors, and admitted students average 3.92. Duluth asks for 3.5 from juniors and 3.0 from seniors, and Rochester takes rising seniors only, at 3.5 unweighted.

When is the PSEO deadline?

Notify your high school by May 30 for fall enrollment or October 30 for spring, using the PSEO Notice of Student Registration form. The college's own application deadline is separate and often earlier.

Can PSEO courses be taken online?

Yes. Minnesota law requires colleges to let PSEO students into online courses on the same terms as their other students, and many run online PSEO, including the University of Northwestern–St. Paul, Bethel, Concordia St. Paul, Crown, and the University of Minnesota Morris.

Does PSEO pay for summer classes?

No. PSEO covers fall and spring. A college that lets high school students take summer courses charges the family for them.

Can a PSEO student still play high school sports?

Yes. Enrolling in PSEO does not by itself bar a student from high school activities, and the school must let a PSEO student stay on site during the school day. Scheduling is the practical limit: the University of Minnesota does not excuse college absences for high school sports or band.

Do PSEO students apply to college as freshmen?

Yes. At the University of Minnesota, the Minnesota State universities, and Minnesota's private colleges, a student with PSEO credit applies as a first-year student. A college course taken after high school graduation, summer included, can turn that into a transfer application at the University of Minnesota.