Dual and Concurrent Enrollment in Wyoming: the law behind it

The statute

W.S. § 21-20-201

Wyoming Postsecondary Education Options Program . Title 21, chapter 20, article 2.

The section a Wyoming family should read before any campus page. A school district board and a community college district board or the University of Wyoming shall enter an agreement letting resident students attend postsecondary programs, and that agreement has to comply with minimum educational standards the Community College Commission defines. A student who completes a course receives academic credit from the resident district counted toward its graduation requirements, plus postsecondary credit. Subsection (d) is the money rule: the university or community college shall not directly assess and collect any fee from the participating student for textbooks, materials, student services or any other fees. Subsection (f) lets the district provide transportation over a reasonable distance, subsection (g) preserves a student’s right to take a course outside the agreement at their own cost, and subsection (h) requires each district board to make the program reasonably accessible to eligible students.

The administrative rule

WDE Chapter 58 rules

Wyoming Department of Education, dual enrollment district reimbursement rules .

The rules that will carry the reimbursement program, and they are not finished. The statute requires the department to promulgate rules establishing the form, manner, and procedures for submitting reimbursement requests and the timeline for approval or denial, with any denial in writing and giving specific reasons. The department opened public comment on the Chapter 58 rules through 11:59 p.m. on September 27, 2026, which means a district describing how reimbursement will work this year is describing a draft. That is worth knowing before a school says it cannot afford another section.

Who pays, and under what authority

2026 Senate File 81, Senate Enrolled Act 56

Dual enrollment district reimbursement program, W.S. 21-13-341 . Chapter 82 of the 2026 session laws, effective July 1, 2026.

The new money, and one sentence in it changes what a school can tell a family. The Department of Education reimburses each district for amounts spent on student enrollment in and completion of dual enrollment courses under an agreement made pursuant to W.S. 21-20-201, distributing up to $10,000,000 a school year from the public school foundation program account. If appropriations fall short, payments are reduced pro rata by each district’s share of completed credit hours. Subsection (d) then says that notwithstanding any other provision of law, school districts, the University of Wyoming and community colleges shall not limit the number of dual enrollment courses in which a student may enroll. The department reports the totals to the joint education interim committee by October 1 each year.

The agreement between the school and the college

Manual of Procedures, dual and concurrent enrollment

Wyoming Community College Commission, statewide memorandum of understanding .

The document that says what has to be inside the agreement the statute requires. Under the manual, a statewide memorandum of understanding must define dual or concurrent enrollment, state the purpose, set a process for approving faculty, state student eligibility, set standards for enrollment in technical and transfer courses, establish how the school and the college will handle tuition, fees, textbooks and college resources, list the concurrent enrollment courses that may be offered, and set the term and the renewal process. Current memoranda are filed with the Commission, which makes the Commission the place to ask what your district signed.

Agency guidance

Dual and concurrent enrollment overview

Wyoming Community College Commission, dual and concurrent enrollment .

The Commission’s public page, and the roster to trust. All eight community colleges offer dual and concurrent enrollment: Casper, Central Wyoming, Eastern Wyoming, Gillette, Laramie County, Northwest, Sheridan, and Western Wyoming. Concurrent enrollment is taught at the high school by a college-approved high school teacher, and dual enrollment is taught by college instructors on a campus, at an outreach center, or by distance learning. The page states both as free to the student, which is the plain-language version of the statute’s bar on assessing fees.

How it got here

The program is the Postsecondary Education Options Program, and its present shape comes from a 2010 act. Senate Enrolled Act 52 of that year amended W.S. 21-20-201 to require agreements to meet minimum educational standards defined by the Community College Commission, to add annual reporting on participation and spending, and to direct the Commission toward a goal of students earning at least twelve college credits. The next real change came in 2026, when Senate File 81, enrolled as Senate Enrolled Act 56 and chapter 82 of the session laws, created the reimbursement program at W.S. 21-13-341 effective July 1, 2026.

Who administers it

These are the offices that answer a question about Wyoming 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.

• Wyoming Community College Commission · Defines the minimum educational standards the agreements must meet and holds the signed memoranda.
• Wyoming Department of Education · Will administer the reimbursement program and is writing the Chapter 58 rules for it.
• Wyoming Legislature, 2026 Senate File 81 · The bill file for the act that created the reimbursement program, with its dates and enrolled text.
• Wyoming Legislature, Title 21 statutes · Where 21-20-201 and 21-13-341 are published in current form.

Frequently asked

Does Wyoming law say the student pays nothing?

Close to it. Section 21-20-201(d) says the university or community college shall not directly assess and collect any fee from the participating student for textbooks, materials, student services or any other fees. Textbooks bought under the established fees are handled inside the district and college agreement.

Can a school cap how many dual enrollment courses my teen takes?

Not any more. W.S. 21-13-341(d), created by 2026 Senate File 81, says that notwithstanding any other provision of law, school districts, the University of Wyoming and community colleges shall not limit the number of dual enrollment courses in which a student may enroll.

Are the reimbursement rules final?

No. The Department of Education had the Chapter 58 rules out for public comment through 11:59 p.m. on September 27, 2026. Until they are adopted, how a district claims reimbursement for this school year is still being settled.

What if our district has no agreement with a college?

Subsection (h) requires each district board, working with the University of Wyoming or a community college district board, to make postsecondary education options programs reasonably accessible to eligible students. Subsection (g) separately lets a student take a college course outside the agreement at their own cost.

Who decides what goes into the agreement?

The Community College Commission sets the minimum educational standards, and its Manual of Procedures lists what the statewide memorandum must contain, from faculty approval to the handling of tuition, fees and textbooks. Signed memoranda are filed with the Commission.