Guides · State programs · By FastTrack Advising

Dual and Concurrent Enrollment in New Hampshire: Early College, explained for parents

Published September 18, 2026

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New Hampshire runs dual enrollment through the Dual and Concurrent Enrollment Program at the state community colleges. A student in grades 10 through 12, or a homeschooled student 15 or older, can take up to two CCSNH courses a year with tuition paid, as long as scholarship funding holds. Additional courses run at a discount.

Who: Grades 10 through 12 at a New Hampshire high school or CTE center, and homeschooled students 15 and older
Free courses: Up to two dual credit courses a year under the Dual and Concurrent Enrollment Scholarship, subject to funding
Beyond two: $150 a course taught at the high school, about half tuition on campus or online
The school has to opt in: The district needs an approved school board policy and an agreement with CCSNH
Scale: 10,863 students in 2024-25 and 59,840 credits posted in 2025
Where the courses sit: About 90 percent are taught at the student's own high school; more than 100 high schools take part

What the scholarship covers

The Dual and Concurrent Enrollment Scholarship, funded by the State of New Hampshire and the community college system, pays tuition and most fees on up to two dual credit courses a year for a student in grades 10 through 12. The scholarship is described as available when funding allows, so a family that waits until August is competing for what is left.

A third course in the same year is not free, but it is cheap. A course taught at the high school lists at $150, and a course taken on a community college campus or online runs at about half the usual tuition. Course fees and textbooks can sit on top of either.

The comparison worth running is against the sticker price your teen would pay for the same credits at 19. Two courses a year from 10th grade through 12th is up to six courses of tuition the family never pays.

Your district has to be in the program

Access here is a district decision before it is a student decision. A student qualifies only if the high school or district has a current school board policy on dual and concurrent enrollment and a signed agreement with the community college system. No policy and no agreement means no seat, however ready your teen is.

More than 100 New Hampshire high schools take part, so most families find the agreement already in place. If yours does not, the question belongs to the principal and the school board rather than the college, and it is a reasonable one to raise in the spring for the following year.

What the statute means by dual and by concurrent

New Hampshire wrote both words into law. RSA 188-E:25 defines concurrent enrollment as courses taught at the high school by high school teachers approved by the community college system, earning both high school and college credit. Dual enrollment is defined as college courses taught by instructors from the system while the student is still in high school.

RSA 188-E:26 establishes the program itself and offers it to high school and career technical education center students in grades 10 through 12. That is the sentence that sets the grade floor a sophomore family is looking for.

In practice the words blur, and school staff use them loosely. What matters for your teen is who teaches the course and whose transcript it lands on, so ask that directly rather than asking which label the school uses.

Three ways to take a course

Early College At Your High School puts the college course in the school day, taught by a teacher credentialed to teach college-level work, using the college syllabus and materials. This is where about 90 percent of the credits come from, and it is the least disruptive option for a student who plays a sport or rides a bus.

Early College On Campus lets a student 15 or older take classes at a community college in person, online, hybrid, or flex format. Early College Online runs asynchronously with weekly deadlines, which suits a student with a packed schedule and hurts a student who needs a room and a clock.

Homeschooled students 15 and older can use the scholarship on the same terms when they meet the eligibility requirements, which makes the campus and online options the practical route for families without a district agreement behind them.

How far the credits go

The volume is real: 10,863 students in the 2024-25 academic year, a 25 percent rise since 2022, and 59,840 credits posted in 2025, a 28 percent rise over the same period. Seven students in the spring of 2025 collected an associate degree at the same time as a high school diploma, at Nashua, NHTI in Concord, Manchester, Lakes Region, and Great Bay.

That kind of finish takes planning from 10th grade and more than two courses a year, so it is a goal to name early or not at all. For most families the useful target is a smaller block of transferable general education credit.

Acceptance of credit is at the discretion of the receiving institution, which the system says plainly. An in-state public campus is the safe case; a selective private or out-of-state college is the one to ask about before your teen builds a sequence around it.

What we tell families in New Hampshire

We tell New Hampshire families to ask the counselor in the spring which two courses the scholarship will cover next year, because the scholarship is annual and an unused year does not carry forward. A sophomore who starts on time can reach 12th grade with four courses already behind them.

We also tell them to check the course against the college your teen is aiming at rather than against the high school schedule. A course that fills a general education requirement at a New Hampshire public campus is worth more than a course that only fills a period, and the difference is one email to an admissions office.

Questions to ask your counselor

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

Does our district have a current school board policy and an agreement with CCSNH?
Which two courses will the scholarship cover for my teen next year?
Is this course taught by a credentialed teacher here, or by a college instructor?
Which college transcript will the credit land on, and when does it get posted?
What fees or textbooks do we pay even when tuition is covered?

Frequently asked

Is dual enrollment free in New Hampshire?

Up to two community college courses a year are tuition-free for students in grades 10 through 12 under the Dual and Concurrent Enrollment Scholarship, when funding is available. Additional courses cost $150 at the high school or about half tuition on campus or online.

Who is eligible for the New Hampshire program?

Students in grades 10 through 12 at a New Hampshire high school or career technical education center, and homeschooled students 15 and older. The district must have an approved school board policy and an agreement with the community college system.

Who teaches a New Hampshire concurrent enrollment course?

A high school teacher credentialed by the community college system to teach college-level courses, working from the college syllabus and materials in partnership with college faculty. About 90 percent of Early College credits are earned this way.

Can a New Hampshire student take the course online?

Yes. Early College Online runs asynchronously with weekly deadlines, and students 15 and older can also take classes on a community college campus in person, hybrid, or flex format.

How many New Hampshire students do this?

10,863 in the 2024-25 academic year, up 25 percent since 2022, with 59,840 credits posted in 2025. More than 100 New Hampshire high schools participate.

Will a New Hampshire college accept the credits?

Acceptance is at the discretion of the receiving institution. Credits move most reliably among New Hampshire public campuses, and a selective or out-of-state college should be asked directly before a family plans around it.

Sources

Community College System of New Hampshire, Early College · grades served, the homeschool age rule, two free courses, the $150 course price, and the district agreement
CCSNH, programs for high school students to earn college credit · the three modalities, the half-tuition rate, and the scholarship terms
CCSNH, Early College At Your High School · who teaches the course, the credential requirement, and credit acceptance
CCSNH, graduating students receive diploma and associate degree · 10,863 students, 59,840 credits, the 90 percent figure, and the 2025 graduates
New Hampshire RSA 188-E:25, definitions · the statutory definitions of concurrent enrollment and dual enrollment
New Hampshire RSA 188-E:26, dual and concurrent enrollment program · the program and the grades 10 through 12 rule

Rules change. These were checked September 2026. Confirm the current version with your school before you act on any of it.

About FastTrack Advising

FastTrack Advising. FastTrack Advising works on dual enrollment and nothing else. We help families choose college courses a high schooler can take now that will still count toward the degree later, we check every course against the transfer rules of the colleges they name, and we stay in the picture through registration so the plan gets used. When the answer for a student is to wait a term, we say that too.

Other state programs

All state programs

PSEO (Minnesota) Free tuition, books, and required fees for 10th through 12th graders, with a May 30 notice deadline that many families miss.
Running Start (Washington) Tuition-free college courses for juniors and seniors at Washington's community and technical colleges and a few universities. Families still pay fees and books, and the student gets to campus on their own.
College Credit Plus (Ohio) Open to 7th through 12th graders, free at Ohio public colleges for public school students, with an April 1 letter of intent and a 30-credit annual cap.
Dual credit (Texas) Each college sets its rate and each district decides how much to cover. Students who qualified for free or reduced lunch in the last five years pay nothing at colleges in the FAST program.
Dual enrollment (Florida) Tuition-free by state law, with a 3.0 unweighted GPA and a qualifying PERT, SAT, or ACT score to get in. Public school students get textbooks covered too.
Dual enrollment (California) Community college courses for 9th through 12th graders through a district partnership called CCAP, with no enrollment fees and no textbook costs, capped at 15 units a term.
Dual Enrollment (Georgia) State funding covers tuition, fees, and books for 30 semester hours, mostly for juniors and seniors. After 30 hours the family pays the college's rate, and ninth graders are outside the program entirely.
Career & College Promise (North Carolina) Tuition paid by the state at community colleges for juniors and seniors with a 2.8 unweighted GPA. Whether the district covers fees and books, and who drives, varies by district.
Concurrent Enrollment (Colorado) Open to 9th through 12th graders with an approved academic plan. The district pays tuition at the community college rate; books and fees are usually the family's, and so is getting to campus.
Dual credit (Illinois) Governed by the Dual Credit Quality Act and a model agreement between each district and college. Whether your teen pays depends on that agreement.
Early College Credit and Start College Now (Wisconsin) Two programs, one for the technical colleges and one for universities, both for juniors and seniors. The district pays most or all of the tuition, and applications are due March 1 for fall and October 1 for spring.
Dual credit (Indiana) Every Indiana high school has to offer dual credit. Priority courses at public colleges cost at most $25 a credit hour, and nothing for students on free or reduced lunch.
Dual enrollment (Michigan) Grades 9 through 12, for courses the high school doesn't offer. The district pays tuition up to a state-set share; anything above it, plus books, is yours. Ten courses across high school.
Dual Enrollment (Alabama) Rising 10th through 12th graders with a 2.5 GPA, at $133 a credit hour plus fees, with a state scholarship that covers some courses when the legislature funds it. No credit cap at all.
Dual Enrollment (Tennessee) The lottery-funded Dual Enrollment Grant pays up to $620.55 for each of the first five courses, then much less. One June 30 application covers the whole academic year.
Dual enrollment (Pennsylvania) Every school entity has to hold at least one dual credit agreement, and none of them has to pay for the courses. The agreement states the cost, and published rates run from $83.50 to $230 a credit.
Dual enrollment (Virginia) Juniors and seniors at the community colleges. Courses on a College and Career Ready Virginia pathway cost the family nothing, and courses outside it are billed at the college rate.
Dual enrollment (Arizona) A community college course taught inside the high school during the school day. Concurrent enrollment is the separate arrangement where the student goes to the college. Price is set district by district.
Dual enrollment (South Carolina) College courses through the state's 16 technical colleges, priced by each college and district, with Lottery Tuition Assistance covering part of the tuition once a student carries six credit hours in a term.
Dual enrollment (Louisiana) A Board of Regents floor for eligibility, four ways to clear it, and a bill the district assembles out of state and federal funds. TOPS Tech Early Start covers career courses for juniors and seniors.
Dual enrollment (Maryland) The Blueprint moved the bill off families for students who meet the College and Career Readiness Standard, and set a floor of two covered courses each fall and spring. Counties add their own terms on top.
Concurrent Enrollment (Utah) College courses for $5 a credit hour, taught mostly inside the high school by a college-approved teacher. Each college sets its own admission bar, and books are still yours.
Concurrent Enrollment (Oklahoma) Juniors and seniors get tuition waived by the State Regents, 18 credit hours a year for seniors and 9 for juniors. Fees and books stay with the family, and each college sets its own entrance bar.
Dual enrollment (New York) No single statewide program. CUNY's College Now is free for New York City public school students, SUNY campuses price their own, and a new state rule makes districts file their partnership agreements in 2026.
Dual enrollment (Massachusetts) Two state programs. CDEP waives tuition and fees at public campuses for eligible high schoolers, mostly in the spring, and designated Early College builds the courses into the school day at no cost.
Concurrent Enrollment (Iowa) College courses run through a district contract with a community college, at no tuition cost to the family. Iowa also runs PSEO, and the two programs treat a failed course differently.
Concurrent Credit (Arkansas) State policy bars a college from billing the family for tuition, fees, or materials on a concurrent credit course. A 2025 scholarship replaced the old Concurrent Challenge grant and pays $65 a credit hour.
Dual Enrollment and Dual Credit (Mississippi) Mississippi separates the two terms in statute. Dual enrollment earns college credit only; dual credit earns high school credit too, and the distinction decides whether the course helps your teen graduate.
Dual Enrollment (Nebraska) Nebraska has no single statewide program, so the price depends on which college your high school partners with. The ACE scholarship covers tuition and mandatory fees for students who qualify on income.
Dual Credit (New Mexico) A statewide program where the college charges no tuition and the school district buys the books. Families pay special course fees and transportation, and the guidance is two courses a semester until graduation requirements are done.
Early College (Maine) Maine pays college tuition for high schoolers through the Aspirations Program, and the class of 2027 forward gets 18 tuition-free credits for the whole of high school.
Dual Enrollment (Vermont) Two vouchers, each covering tuition on a college course of up to four credits, for any Vermont student who has finished grade 10, including home study students.
Dual credit (West Virginia) A state-funded pilot pays tuition and academic fees for courses on approved career pathways, for public, private, charter, microschool, learning pod, and homeschool students alike.
Dual enrollment (Delaware) No statewide program makes it free. State regulation puts the policy on every district and charter, bars turning a student away over money, and most courses run through Delaware Tech.
Dual enrollment (New Jersey) No statewide free tuition. Public colleges must sign dual enrollment agreements and districts choose whether to join, so the price and the eligibility rules come from your own county college.
Dual enrollment (Connecticut) A board policy rather than a statute sets the rules. Concurrent credit courses are capped at $50 a credit, CT State covers two courses a semester for qualifying juniors and seniors, and UConn ECE has run since 1955.
Accelerated learning (Oregon) Oregon calls the whole category accelerated learning. Dual credit at the high school is free or close to it at most community colleges, and Expanded Options moves a junior or senior onto a campus at no charge to the student.
Dual enrollment (Nevada) No statewide free tuition. Districts sign cooperative agreements with NSHE colleges and each agreement names who pays, so the price runs from $25 a credit at the high school to $154 on a university campus.
Concurrent enrollment (Kansas) Concurrent enrollment means the college course is taught at the high school, and it is not free by default. Excel in CTE pays tuition for approved technical courses, and a district board may cover the rest if it chooses to.
Dual Credit (Kentucky) A $99 ceiling on what a college may charge a high school student, and a state scholarship that pays that rate for one general education course a year.
Dual Credit (Missouri) Missouri draws a line between dual credit and dual enrollment based on who teaches, and the price and the GPA tier both follow from that.
Dual Credit (Idaho) Every Idaho public school student gets $4,625 to spend on college credit between grades 7 and 12, and the fund pays $75 a credit, which is what colleges charge.
Dual Credit (North Dakota) Tuition is the family's here, at a reduced rate that changes with who teaches the course, and Bank of North Dakota covers two courses a year for students on free or reduced lunch.
Dual Credit (South Dakota) Juniors and seniors split a deeply reduced tuition rate with the state, at $80.37 a credit hour, under a statute with a hard rule about what happens if a course goes badly.
Dual and Concurrent Enrollment (Rhode Island) A state fund covers tuition and fees for part-time college courses at the three public institutions, and the statute behind it caps that fund at whatever the budget appropriates each year.
Early College and Running Start (Hawaii) Two programs run off one statute that never says who pays. Early College comes to the high school and the school usually covers it; Running Start puts the student on a UH campus at that campus’s published rate.
Dual Enrollment (Alaska) No state program and no state money behind it. What a college course costs an Alaska family depends on which University of Alaska campus offers it and whether the school district signed an agreement.
Dual Enrollment (Montana) The first two courses or six credits carry no tuition anywhere in the Montana University System, fees are waived, and everything after that costs half of resident two-year tuition, around $60 a credit.
Dual and Concurrent Enrollment (Wyoming) State law bars a college from charging a participating student for textbooks, materials, student services, or any other fee, and from 2026-27 the state starts reimbursing districts for what it costs them.

Planning Dual and Concurrent Enrollment for your teen?

Save this page and the state's deadlines show up on your own My FastTrack page, next to the tools. Which courses to take, in which order, so the credits still count at the college your teen ends up at, is the part we do with families.

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