On this page
Minnesota invented statewide dual enrollment in 1985, and ten years in, the Legislative Auditor took the program apart. The evaluation surveyed nearly every high school principal in the state, surveyed participants and their parents, and worked out where the money went. Families saved close to $11 million in a single year. Participation was tiny by today’s standards and wildly uneven: in some high schools nearly a third of juniors and seniors took part, and 48 districts reported nobody at all.
- Who published it
- Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor, 1996
- Authors
- Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor, Program Evaluation Division
- What it is
- Government audit
- Where the data comes from
- Minnesota
What it found
- 6,671 students took part in 1994-95, about 6% of Minnesota’s 112,989 public school juniors and seniors.
- Participation ran from 0 to 29% across high schools, and 48 of 331 districts reported no participants at all.
- Students and families saved about $10.9 million in tuition and fees in 1993-94, and the net cost to the state was $4.5 million.
- 73% of participants were very satisfied and 24% somewhat satisfied, and 95% of parents would encourage another student to take part.
What it does not show
- It is thirty years old. PSEO has grown several times over since, and the rules have moved with it.
- Minnesota has not evaluated the program since. In May 2026 the Legislative Auditor listed PSEO as a candidate for a follow-up evaluation, noting that the state paid $48.6 million in fiscal year 2024 for about 206,000 credits.
How the study was done
A March 1996 program evaluation covering the program’s first ten years, drawing on state records, surveys of nearly all Minnesota high school principals, and participant and parent surveys.
Why this matters to a family
Minnesota families are working from a program the state has not formally evaluated in thirty years, which is worth knowing when a district explains how PSEO works.
Sources
- Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor, Program Evaluation Division. Postsecondary Enrollment Options Program, 1996.
- Minnesota OLA, Potential Follow-Up Evaluation: Postsecondary Enrollment Options (May 2026)
Rules change. These were checked September 2026. Confirm the current version with your school before you act on any of it.
Reading the evidence before a decision?
Save this page and it sits on your own My FastTrack page alongside your state's deadlines and the tools. Deciding which of these findings apply to one teen, in one state, aiming at particular colleges, is what a roadmap engagement settles.