Dual Enrollment in Montana: the law behind it

The statute

MCA § 20-9-706

Running start program, class credits, eligibility, payment for credits .

The only section of Montana code built for this, and it works by agreement rather than by entitlement. A school district may enter an interlocal agreement with a unit of the university system, a public community college, or a tribal college to let eleventh and twelfth graders attend classes at a cost the agreement sets, for courses not available through the district. The agreement has to state the amount per credit and who pays it, the district decides whether a student has the skills to succeed, and the college may not displace adult students to make room. Subsection (6) puts transportation, books, and all supplies on the student. Subsection (7) requires the college to reimburse the district or the student if a student drops within the college’s drop period.

Who pays, and under what authority

MCA § 20-7-1506

Montana Advanced Opportunity Act, incentives for advanced opportunity programs .

The pot of money a district can use to cover what a family would otherwise pay. A district with an advanced opportunity program approved by the board of public education receives advanced opportunity aid, distributed by the superintendent of public instruction by October 1 into the district’s flexibility fund. At least 75 percent of that annual distribution has to be spent or encumbered on out-of-pocket costs a qualifying pupil or the pupil’s family would otherwise carry, and the statute names dual credit tuition at any institution under the Board of Regents first among permissible expenditures, alongside exam fees and work-based learning costs. Qualifying pupils are in grades 6 through 12. Whether a district applied, and what it chose to spend the money on, is a fair question for a school board.

Commissioner’s Directive on early college student tuition

Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education, tuition and waiver ineligibility .

The document that sets the price, issued under Board of Regents Policy 940.13 on tuition waivers and discounts, effective March 14, 2014 and updated March 3, 2020. Early college students pay 50 percent of the resident two-year tuition rate, or 50 percent of the lower division undergraduate rate at MSU Northern and UM Western. Beginning Fall 2018, high school students receive their first two lower-division courses, six credits, tuition-free, which is the One-Two-Free benefit. Mandatory and non-mandatory fees are not assessed, applicable course fees excepted, and no distance learning fee applies. The same directive makes early college students ineligible for board-designated tuition waivers, so an honor scholarship or a veteran waiver does not stack on top.

Agency guidance

Board of Regents Policy 301, Section IV

Montana Board of Regents, admission requirements, dual enrollment .

The admission rule for a high school student, sitting in the same policy that governs everyone else’s admission and last revised July 9, 2026. Campuses may set up procedures to admit students enrolled simultaneously in high school and a university system campus, and that admission has to be selective, confined to students showing the ability and maturity to complete the coursework, based on offering something the high school does not, approved by the high school principal or counselor, and consistent with the Operational Guidelines on Dual Enrollment including test scores and prerequisites. The policy also supplies the definition the rest of the system uses: dual enrollment is the broad term for high school students taking college coursework, for dual credit or for college credit only.

Operational Guidelines for Dual Enrollment, June 2023

Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education, operational guidelines .

The working manual for campuses, and the place where three practical questions are answered together. Students are exempt from fees but responsible for books, supplies, course-specific fees, and other course-related materials and costs, so a lab science can still carry a bill inside the free tier. The university system sets no limit on the number of credits a student may take, by semester or across their eligibility, so long as the student stays capable of college-level work, in good academic standing, and on track to graduate within four years. Concurrent enrollment courses are taught at a high school by a college-approved, state-licensed high school teacher who meets or exceeds the qualifications in Board of Regents Policy 730, which is the quality control on a course taught in the building. One-Two-Free does not include tribal colleges.

How it got here

The statute came first and the money came later. Section 20-9-706 was enacted by chapter 377 of the 2001 session laws and has carried the running start agreement structure since. One-Two-Free began in Fall 2018 under a commissioner’s directive rather than a new statute. The Montana Advanced Opportunity Act was enacted by chapter 279 of the 2019 session laws and amended in 2023 and again in 2025, which is why a district’s ability to cover a family’s costs is newer than the program itself.

Who administers it

These are the offices that answer a question about Montana 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.

• Montana University System, dual enrollment · Runs One-Two-Free and publishes the guidelines every campus applies.
• Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education · Issues the directive that sets the early college tuition rate and the fee exemption.
• Montana Legislature, Montana Code Annotated · Where the running start section and the Advanced Opportunity Act are published.
• Montana University System, get started with dual enrollment · The route a family takes into a campus program, with the coordinator to contact.

Frequently asked

Is there a Montana administrative rule for dual enrollment?

None that sets the program’s terms. The rate, the free tier, and the fee exemption come from a commissioner’s directive issued under Board of Regents Policy 940.13, with the Operational Guidelines doing the detail underneath it.

Where does One-Two-Free come from?

From the commissioner’s directive on early college student tuition, which states that beginning Fall 2018 high school students receive their first two lower-division courses, six credits, tuition-free. It is not in statute, and it does not include tribal colleges.

What does the statute leave the student to pay?

Section 20-9-706(6) makes a student accepted into the program responsible for transportation, books, and all supplies. The Operational Guidelines add course-specific fees and other course-related materials, which is how a lab fee survives the fee exemption.

Can a district pay a family’s dual enrollment costs?

Yes, and many are funded to. Under the Advanced Opportunity Act, at least 75 percent of a qualified district’s advanced opportunity aid must go to out-of-pocket costs a family would otherwise carry, with dual credit tuition named first among permissible expenditures.

What happens if a student drops a course?

Section 20-9-706(7) requires the college to reimburse the district or the student for the cost of the credits, as determined by the interlocal agreement, when a student drops during the drop period the college sets. That period belongs to the college calendar.