#1 College-Based Dual Enrollment
Excellent transferability
Hardly available 10 years ago, dual enrollment is hot now, and growing in popularity. When a high school student is enrolled in a dual enrollment program, they’re “double-dipping” on their effort by taking one course that provides credit in two places. First, the college will award college credit, and second, the homeschool parent will award high school credit. The student only takes one class, but checks a box for their high school requirements while simultaneously working on a class that will likely count later or their degree. An added bonus is that dual enrollment courses taught by a college are each worth 1 high school credit, so a student also racks up high school credit at warp speed!
As an example, a 12th grade student takes English 101 at the local college first semester, and English 102 second semester. This sequence takes just as long as 12th grade English (1 year) but is worth two high school credits AND checks the student’s box for their college degree English requirements. When we factor in that the courses may be available for free or very reduced tuition, you can immediately see how dual enrollment is an amazing investment. Assuming, of course, that you’re resourceful in your high school planning. You’ll find tons of dual enrollment information on the Homeschooling for College Credit website, including an annual list of the “best price” dual enrollment programs, lists of religious programs, lists of free programs, and even access to reduced tuition through our HS4CC Academy partner relationships. From years past, when homeschoolers had to look for options, colleges and universities are now coming to Homeschooling for College Credit and offering big tuition discounts in exchange for being on our lists. How the tide has changed since 2012!
Names of Programs
Dual enrollment is not a proper noun; it’s a general phrase we use that includes any college or university-based program that is open to homeschool students in high school. All 50 states have options, not all of which will be available to homeschool students, and most have a clever name. For context, in North Carolina, our dual enrollment program, Career and College Promise, is open to public, private, and homeschool students. Our other dual enrollment program, Middle College, is only open to public school students. It’s likely that your state may have multiple programs and different eligibility requirements.
Examples of program names in the United States include: Career and College Promise, Early College, Postsecondary Enrollment Option, Concurrent Enrollment, Dual Credit, Joint High School, College Credit Plus, and others. Be sure that the program you are looking at is open to homeschool students.
Cheat Sheet for Dual Enrollment
- Typically open to students in grades 9-12. Specific grade level requirements will differ by program.
- Typically reduced or free tuition. Specific tuition will differ by program.
- Typically online or on campus. Specific delivery will differ by program.
- Typically taught by professors of the university or college.
- Taking placement tests to qualify varies by program. (Mostly not required)
- Providing high school transcripts to participate. (Mostly required)
- Students take classes with adults (online or on campus) content will not be censored.
- One dual enrollment course = 1 high school credit.
- General education courses (English, math, history, science, etc.) have the best transferability.
- Career course usually also available (welding, construction, computer, culinary, etc.)
- Lower-level (100-200) classes are widely available. Upper level (300-400) are rare for high school.
- Your student’s grade will be recorded on an official college transcript.
- Your student’s grade (transcript) must be disclosed to future colleges.
Excellent Transferability
Though this isn’t the case in all states, 38 states have determined that college courses taken for dual enrollment at a public community college are guaranteed to transfer into that state’s public university system. Even in these guaranteed transfer states, a private university will march to its own drum and can reject incoming credit for no reason. If your state has a transfer agreement (called an Articulation Agreement) you’ll want to know about that as you plan. Resourceful high school planning inside one of these agreements can be an incredibly efficient and low-cost way to start earning college credit in high school. In many cases, your student can earn 30-60 dual enrollment college credits, which is the equivalent of 1-2 years of college. It is unlikely that any of you will be able to earn a scholarship that beats the cost savings that come from resourcefully planned dual enrollment. Dual enrollment can absolutely reduce your student’s total cost of college and the amount of time to graduate by 50%
Freshman vs Transfer Applicant
As you consider the possibilities, you may wonder how this plays out when your student goes to college. Are they a transfer student? The answer is “no!” They aren’t. College credit earned during high school is not “counted” in the bucket of credits that otherwise turn students into transfer students. The only way to become a transfer student is by taking college credit after high school. This is true at all colleges and universities. College credit earned before high school graduation does not make your student a transfer student. Once enrolled, the prior credit is brought over, usually in the first or second semester, and the student will get a “bump” in their rank. Many students are freshman on day one, but receive junior status once the credit is applied. This is a nice little perk that keeps the freshman scholarship options on the table. We have parents who really make the most of this strategy for their teens by completing two years of college in high school, and using a “freshman scholarship” that covers four years to fund the remaining two years of the bachelor’s degree AND a two-year graduate degree. Homeschooling for College Credit parents are a clever bunch!
Cost of Dual Enrollment
Costs change all the time, but I want you to get an idea of how to find affordable dual enrollment. Let’s start with free. At the time of this writing, dual enrollment is funded by several states for high school students, including homeschool students, in 17 states. These states allow homeschoolers to take dual enrollment courses for free in some quantity.
- California
- Florida
- Georgia
- Kentucky
- Maine
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Montana
- New Hampshire
- New Mexico
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Tennessee
- Utah
- Vermont
- Washington
- Wyoming
At the time of this writing, school vouchers/ ESA / school choice funding can also fund dual enrollment for many homeschool students. Be aware that some unscrupulous for-profit companies are using loose language to advertise “free college” to homeschoolers who have these funds. The trick is that they are often private schools looking for a quick buck, and by enrolling, you may be changing your student’s legal classification from “homeschool” to “private school.” The states below allow you to access these funds without using a middleman or compromising your homeschool status.
- Alabama
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- Florida
- Georgia
- Idaho
- Indiana
- New Hampshire
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Tennessee
- Utah
- West Virginia
- Wyoming
As you’re shopping around, as long as the college doesn’t forbid it, students from any state can generally enroll. This is always true for private colleges and universities, less true of public, but you will still find hundreds of programs in both categories. A good rule of thumb is that one college course is typically 3 college credits. If the dual enrollment tuition advertised price is $100 per credit, the cost is 3 x $100 = $300. You’ll want to find out if the program has added costs like technology fees, textbooks, or lab costs. While $300 may be at the top of your budget, it’s a little like your 401k. You’re paying using pre-tax cash now for the big return later. This is how dual enrollment works as well. You’re paying $300 today for a college course that will be full price when your student graduates. Since the average affordable public 4-year university comes in at about $400 per credit (x 3 = $1,200) the savings is staggering. A $3,000 dual enrollment budget spread out over four years of high school will easily cover more than one year of college later.
A quick note about “Super Senior” years, or a 5th year of high school. Families who are taking advantage of dual enrollment immediately become aware that an extra year of high school can save them a lot of money, but colleges and universities know this, too. While your student can always choose to take a “Super Senior” year, not all dual enrollment programs allow your student access to free or reduced tuition during that time. If earning more college credit is the driving motive for another year of high school, a little extra research into program rules will be required.
Double the Reward
When your teen takes a dual enrollment college course, they earn high school credit much faster than when they take high school classes. In the first table, the student earned 1 high school credit in English after taking 32 weeks of high school English and 0 college credits. That is the typical schedule for a teen. In the second table, the same student could earn 2 high school credits and 6 college credits in the same time period.
| FALL 16 weeks | SPRING 16 weeks |
|---|---|
| 12th grade Honor High School English | 12th-grade Honors High School English |
| earns 0.5 high school credit | earns 0.5 high school credit |
| FALL 16 weeks | SPRING 16 weeks |
|---|---|
| English 101 | English 102 |
| earns 1.0 high school credit/ 3 college credits | earns 1.0 high school credit/ 3 college credits |
CAUTION: Dual enrollment courses won’t be censored for your teen. Maturity should always be considered.
A parent from our North Carolina Facebook group writes:
“The admissions rep pointed out that if a student completes two years at a community college and transfers into ANY North Carolina public college, then the savings is the equivalent of them winning a huge scholarship. I hadn’t thought of it like that. He said the savings is between $28,000 and $32,000. That’s pretty awesome!”