Early College Credit and Start College Now in Wisconsin: the law behind it

The statute

Wis. Stat. § 118.55

Early College Credit Program .

The statute behind the program most Wisconsin families mean by dual enrollment. A public high school pupil who is not attending a technical college under 38.12(14) or 118.15(1)(b), and any pupil attending a private school, may enroll at an institution of higher education for one or more nonsectarian courses. The section also carries the rulemaking authority the Department of Public Instruction used to write PI 40, which is where the operating detail lives.

Wis. Stat. § 38.12(14)

Start College Now .

The technical college route, and the cleaner of the two on cost. A pupil notifies the school board by March 1 for the fall semester or October 1 for the spring. Where the school board is required to pay the technical college, the pupil is not responsible for any portion of tuition and fees, and the board pays tuition, course fees, and books. The board may refuse a course comparable to one the district already offers, and the technical college may hold a seat back for its own students or decline an applicant with a record of disciplinary problems.

The administrative rule

Wis. Admin. Code ch. PI 40

Early College Credit Program rule .

The Department of Public Instruction rule written under 118.55(9) and the document that sets the calendar. Notification is due by February 1 for a summer semester or session, March 1 for fall, and October 1 for spring. The rule also lists the grounds on which a school board, a private school governing body, or an independent charter school board may deny high school credit, including that the postsecondary course is comparable to one the school already offers.

Who pays, and under what authority

ECCP cost sharing

University of Wisconsin, Early College Credit Program guide .

How an Early College Credit course is paid for, written by the university system that enrols many of these students. The split between the school district and the state, and the deadline a university applies on top of the statutory one, are both here. It is the page that explains why the same student pays nothing for a technical college course and something for a university one.

Agency guidance

DPI Early College Credit Program

Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, ECCP .

The department page a family applies from, and the one that states the deadlines with no exceptions attached. It also sets out the district’s obligation to provide a minimum of eighteen credits of college courses, which is the standard a school is measured against when it says a student already has enough on offer at the high school.

DPI Start College Now

Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, Start College Now .

The technical college program in the department’s own words, including the March 1 and October 1 dates and the step families skip most often: the student works with a career prep coordinator at the technical college to pick courses and then needs school board approval before enrolling.

Who administers it

These are the offices that answer a question about Wisconsin 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.

• Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, dual enrollment · Runs both programs and publishes the application deadlines.
• DPI, Start College Now · Where a technical college application starts and the board approval step is described.
• Wisconsin Legislature · Where both statutes and the PI 40 rule are published.

Frequently asked

Which program is a student in?

Start College Now if the course is at a technical college, under 38.12(14). Early College Credit if it is at a university or a private nonprofit college, under 118.55. A student cannot be in both at once for the same term.

What are the deadlines?

PI 40 sets February 1 for summer, March 1 for fall, and October 1 for spring under the Early College Credit Program. Start College Now uses March 1 for fall and October 1 for spring.

Can a school refuse to grant high school credit?

PI 40 lists grounds for denial, including that the postsecondary course is comparable to one the school already offers. That is the rule a family should read before appealing.

Is Start College Now free?

Where the school board is required to pay the technical college, the statute says the pupil is not responsible for any portion of tuition and fees, and the board pays tuition, course fees, and books.