Dual Enrollment in Tennessee: the law behind it

The administrative rule

Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1640-01-31

Rules of the Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation, Dual Enrollment Grant Program . Rules .01 through .09, effective May 23, 2024.

Nine short rules that settle most disputes. Rule .05 lists what the grant will not pay for, and the list belongs in front of a family before a schedule is built: credit earned by examination, audited courses, upper-division courses typically numbered 300 to 400 or 3000 to 4000, continuing education, and pass or fail courses. Rule .02 states the program’s ambition plainly, that a Tennessee high school student can reach a technical certificate or diploma or a semester of college credit free of tuition and fees. Rule .03 leaves the application deadline to the executive director and requires it to be published, rule .04 confirms the grant covers fall, spring, and summer before graduation, and rule .06 says the renewal grade average is calculated by the institution across all dual enrollment hours attempted under the grant.

Who pays, and under what authority

June 30 application, TSAC Student Portal

Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation, student portal .

One application each academic year, filed by June 30, covering fall, spring, and summer at a two-year or four-year institution and fall, spring or winter, and summer at a technical college. Nothing about the grant is automatic, and a missed June 30 costs the whole academic year rather than a single term, which makes this the date a Tennessee family marks in the spring of the year before.

Agency guidance

Dual Enrollment Grant program pages

Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation, Dual Enrollment Grant .

The state’s own statement of the rules a family plans against. A student qualifies as a junior or senior at a two-year or four-year institution, or as a freshman or higher at a Tennessee College of Applied Technology, must be a Tennessee resident as classified by the Board of Regents, and has to hold a cumulative 2.0 across all postsecondary courses attempted under the grant. The award arithmetic sits here too: the first five courses pay tuition plus a 5 percent access fee at the community college rate, courses six through ten pay $100 a credit hour up to $600 a course, and the grant stops after ten courses or 1,296 clock hours.

Dual Enrollment Grant frequently asked questions

Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation, program FAQ .

Two answers here end arguments families keep having. On the HOPE Scholarship, the corporation says students who participate in the Dual Enrollment Grant program will not have their HOPE Scholarship impacted in any way, which replaces the older dollar-for-dollar reduction still repeated in handouts. On withdrawal, it warns that dropping a class after the institution’s census date while receiving the grant may end eligibility permanently, so the census date belongs on the family calendar beside the drop deadline.

How it got here

The current rule chapter is new rather than amended: the corporation filed it on February 23, 2024, effective May 23, 2024, and every rule in it lists section 49-4-930 among its authorities. Tennessee guidance printed before that date can describe award tiers and exclusions the corporation has since restated, so the date on a handout is worth checking against the rule.

Who administers it

These are the offices that answer a question about Tennessee 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.

• Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation · Writes the rules, sets the award amounts, and pays the institutions.
• Tennessee Secretary of State, rules · Publishes the effective text of rule chapter 1640-01-31.
• TSAC Student Portal · Where the family actually files the Dual Enrollment Grant application.
• Tennessee Department of Education, dual enrollment · The school system side, including how a course counts toward a diploma.

Frequently asked

Why is there no link to the statute itself?

Tennessee publishes its code through a commercial service rather than free on a state domain, and the General Assembly’s own legislation page points there. The corporation’s rule chapter, which cites section 49-4-930 as its authority throughout, is the official state document a family can open without a subscription.

What does the rule refuse to pay for?

Rule 1640-01-31-.05 names five things: credit earned by examination, audited courses with no credit, upper-division courses, continuing education, and pass or fail courses. A schedule built on any of those will not draw the grant.

Does the grant affect the HOPE Scholarship?

No. The corporation answers that participation in the Dual Enrollment Grant program will not affect a HOPE Scholarship in any way. Older material describing a dollar-for-dollar reduction after four courses is out of date.

What happens after a withdrawal?

Withdrawing after the institution’s census date while holding the grant may make a student permanently ineligible. Rule .08 then sends the institution’s refund policy to work out what has to be returned to the corporation.