Dual enrollment in New Jersey: the law behind it

The statute

N.J.S.A. 18A:61C-10 and 18A:61C-11

Dual enrollment agreements, P.L.2014, c.74 . Approved December 3, 2014; effective in the 2015-2016 school year.

The asymmetry that explains why two towns twenty minutes apart offer different things. A public institution of higher education shall enter into a dual enrollment agreement with one or more school districts, with a carve-out for a State college that generally limits undergraduate enrollment to people at least 21 years old, while a school district with a high school may enter one. The agreement has to describe the courses on offer, the eligibility requirements for initial and continuing participation, the process by which a student and parent opt in, a provision ensuring a course taught on the high school campus matches the rigor of the campus version, and the process for telling students and parents the program exists. The eligibility description has to include a provision ensuring that an eligible student is not excluded because of an inability to pay. Section 2, codified at 18A:61C-11, requires a public institution to accept the course credit of a student who completes a course under the program.

P.L.2023, c.272

Innovation Dual Enrollment II Pilot Program . Approved January 16, 2024.

The one place the State caps what a college may charge, and a law whose name shifted between introduction and signature. The bill arrived as the Twelfth Grade Postsecondary Transition Year Pilot Program and was enacted as a three-year Innovation Dual Enrollment II Pilot Program open to students in grades 9 through 12, prioritizing students receiving free or reduced lunch in districts with historically lower college-going rates. The Commissioner selects districts across the southern, central, and northern regions and grants each one money for the program, including the tuition the college charges. A participating institution waives student fees and may charge the partnering district no more than $100 per academic credit, and it reports to the district each semester on how the students are doing. A participating student takes between one and 15 college credits a semester and holds a 2.0 grade point average to continue. A public institution has to accept and apply the credits toward an applicable degree under its own transfer policies. The act created a non-lapsing Innovation Dual Enrollment II Fund and directed the State Board of Education to write rules.

P.L.2018, c.145

Dual Enrollment Study Commission . Approved December 17, 2018.

A finished chapter rather than a live rule, and the origin of the framework documents the Department of Education still posts. The act created an 11-member commission to develop a statewide framework for an expanded dual enrollment program, covering cost, course rigor, faculty qualifications, the effect on graduation rates and time to degree, and proposals for sustaining early college high schools. The commission was told to issue that framework within a year of organizing, and the act expired the commission 30 days after its report, so nothing in it entitles a student to anything today.

The administrative rule

N.J.A.C. 6A:8-6.2

Enrollment in college courses . With N.J.A.C. 6A:8-5.1 on graduation requirements.

The State Board rule a district works from, short enough to read in a minute. District boards have to develop, implement, and regularly evaluate strategies that identify, support, and encourage students from diverse backgrounds to enroll in and succeed in college courses. They may enter a dual enrollment agreement under N.J.S.A. 18A:61C-10, and credits earned are to be accepted at all New Jersey public higher education institutions under 18A:61C-11. Subsection (d) points districts at the pilot, by its original bill name, as a competitive grant contingent on money in the Innovation Dual Enrollment II Fund. The graduation rule at 6A:8-5.1 is the other half: a district board has to establish a process to approve postsecondary learning opportunities including concurrent or dual enrollment at accredited institutions, and has to award credit for successful completion of an approved course that meets the state standards.

Agency guidance

Dual enrollment

Department of Education, dual enrollment .

The department page that supplies the definition and a starting document. It describes dual enrollment as a course for which students may simultaneously earn high school and college credits, and publishes a sample memorandum of understanding districts can build an agreement from. Asking the district for its own signed agreement, and comparing it against the sample, is the fastest way to find out what your teen is entitled to locally.

How it got here

The current framework dates from P.L.2014, c.74, approved December 3, 2014, which repealed two 1986 acts and took effect in the 2015-2016 school year. As introduced, that bill would have required districts to sign agreements; the enacted version changed the district duty to an option while keeping the requirement on public colleges. The 2018 study commission came next and has since expired, and P.L.2023, c.272, approved January 16, 2024, added the pilot and its fund.

Who administers it

These are the offices that answer a question about New Jersey 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.

• New Jersey Department of Education, dual enrollment · Publishes the definition, the sample memorandum of understanding, and the pilot grant.
• Office of the Secretary of Higher Education · The college-side agency on transfer and on the dual enrollment grant programs.
• New Jersey Legislature, chapter laws · Where the enacted text of P.L.2014, c.74 and P.L.2023, c.272 is published.
• New Jersey Administrative Code, Title 6A Chapter 8 · The State Board rule on standards, graduation requirements, and enrollment in college courses.

Frequently asked

Does every New Jersey district have to offer dual enrollment?

No. Under P.L.2014, c.74, a public institution of higher education shall enter into an agreement with one or more districts, while a school district with a high school may enter one. Whether your teen has access depends on what the district chose to sign.

What does the law say if a family cannot pay?

The statute requires the agreement’s description of student eligibility to include a provision ensuring that an eligible student is not excluded from participation because of an inability to pay. That provision lives in the local agreement, so ask the district for the document and read the eligibility section.

What changed with the 2024 law?

The act signed on January 16, 2024 was introduced as a twelfth grade pilot and enacted as the Innovation Dual Enrollment II Pilot Program for grades 9 through 12. It runs three years, caps what a partnering college may charge a district at $100 per academic credit, waives student fees, and is funded through a non-lapsing fund by competitive grant. Material describing six districts and a senior-year-only program is describing the introduced bill.

Does a New Jersey public college have to accept the credit?

N.J.S.A. 18A:61C-11 requires a public institution to accept the course credit of a student who completes a course under the dual enrollment program, and N.J.A.C. 6A:8-6.2 repeats it. How that credit applies to a particular degree is a separate question the receiving college answers.

Does the course count toward a high school diploma?

N.J.A.C. 6A:8-5.1 requires a district board to establish a process to approve postsecondary learning opportunities, including concurrent or dual enrollment at accredited institutions, and to award credit for successful completion of an approved course that meets the New Jersey Student Learning Standards.