Dual enrollment in South Carolina: the law behind it

The statute

S.C. Code section 59-59-210

Education and Economic Development Act, articulation agreements . Added by 2005 Act No. 88.

The only general dual enrollment provision in the South Carolina code, and it is about quality rather than access. Subsection (B) says dual enrollment college courses offered to high school students by two-year and four-year colleges and universities must be equivalent in content and rigor to the equivalent college courses offered to college students, and taught by appropriately credentialed faculty. It also directs the Commission on Higher Education, through its Advisory Committee on Academic Programs, to recommend coursework acceptable statewide for dual enrollment and to set the related policies and guidelines. Section 59-59-240 adds that the chapter’s requirements do not apply to private or home schools.

S.C. Code section 59-150-360

Tuition assistance at a technical college or public two-year institution .

The lottery money most South Carolina dual enrollment families meet. A person qualifying for in-state rates may receive tuition assistance at a state technical college or public two-year institution, and a first-time entering freshman has to be a South Carolina resident for at least a year, enroll and maintain six credit hours each term in a certificate, degree, or diploma program, make reasonable progress, file a federal aid application or the state waiver form, and not hold a LIFE Scholarship. The six credit hour floor is the condition that decides whether a high school student reaches the award at all.

The administrative rule

S.C. Code Ann. Regs. 62-900.150 to 62-900.200

Commission on Higher Education, Lottery Tuition Assistance Program .

The regulation that turns the statute into an award, and it carries one provision written for high school students in particular. Regulation 62-900.165 lets a college waive the federal aid application requirement where the student is in high school and participating in a dual enrollment program, which removes the step families most often stall on. The same section keeps the six credit hour minimum at the home institution, requires satisfactory academic progress, bars a student holding a HOPE, LIFE, or Palmetto Fellows Scholarship, and makes every requirement an annual one.

SBE Regulation 43-234, section III

State Board of Education, defined program grades 9 through 12, dual credit arrangement .

The regulation behind the transcript. Read with the Uniform Grading Policy, it provides that one quality point may be added to the college preparatory weighting for dual credit courses applicable to baccalaureate degrees, associate degrees, or certification programs leading to an industry credential from an accredited institution, under established district articulation agreements. The grading scale itself traces to section 59-5-68, which directed the State Board to adopt one uniform policy so a grade point average means the same thing in every district.

Who pays, and under what authority

Scholarships and grants for South Carolina residents

South Carolina Commission on Higher Education, state aid programs .

Where the current award rates live, including Lottery Tuition Assistance and the workforce scholarship layered on top of it. The rates move with the appropriation each year, so the figure a school shared last spring may not be the figure this fall, and this page is the one to check before assuming a term is covered.

Agency guidance

Dual Credit Guidelines for Career and Technical Education Completer Status

South Carolina Department of Education, Office of Career and Technical Education .

How a college course becomes part of a career and technical completer program rather than a loose elective. The guidelines require a one-to-one match between the college course and the state-recognized secondary course, list the statewide alignments by cluster, and set a January 31 deadline in the year before implementation for a school submitting the approval application. A family looking at a technical pathway should ask whether the specific course appears on that alignment list.

How it got here

The grading side goes back to 1999, when the General Assembly directed the State Board to adopt a uniform grading policy under section 59-5-68 so that lottery-funded aid would rest on comparable grade point averages. The dual enrollment rigor provision arrived with the Education and Economic Development Act in 2005, and the Lottery Tuition Assistance regulation now in force was approved in 2011.

Who administers it

These are the offices that answer a question about South Carolina 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.

• South Carolina Commission on Higher Education · Sets statewide dual enrollment policy and administers Lottery Tuition Assistance.
• South Carolina Department of Education · Publishes the dual credit guidelines and the Uniform Grading Policy behind the quality point.
• South Carolina Legislature, Code of Laws · Where sections 59-59-210 and 59-150-360 are published.
• SC TRAC · The statewide transfer site showing which blocks of credit move between institutions.

Frequently asked

Is there a South Carolina statute setting who may take dual enrollment?

Not a statewide eligibility statute. Section 59-59-210 governs course rigor and hands policy to the Commission on Higher Education, and each technical college then sets its own grade and test thresholds. A bill adding a full dual enrollment chapter was introduced in the 2025-2026 session and was still in committee.

Where does the extra quality point come from?

The Uniform Grading Policy read with State Board Regulation 43-234. One quality point may be added to the college preparatory weighting for dual credit courses applicable to a degree or an industry credential, under established district articulation agreements.

Does a dual enrollment student have to file a federal aid application for Lottery Tuition Assistance?

Regulation 62-900.165 lets a college waive that requirement for a student in high school participating in a dual enrollment program. The six credit hour minimum for the term still applies, and it is the condition that usually decides eligibility.

Does the law reach home school and private school students?

Section 59-59-240 says the chapter’s requirements do not apply to private or home schools, so access for those students runs through the technical college’s own admission policy rather than through the statute.