NAICU Washington Update

Administration Making Some Pell Grants Available for Dual Enrollment

October 30, 2015

The Department of Education has announced it will use its authority under Experimental Sites to extend Pell Grant eligibility to high school students who are dually enrolled in college. The proposal is limited to a $20 million set-aside within the Pell Program. According to the Department, its specific goals are to promote access, affordability, and completion.

Dual enrollment programs are gaining in popularity as a way to help students earn credit for college while still in high school. In many cases, courses are offered in high schools by local community colleges and count toward both a student’s high school diploma and toward a college degree. In some programs, students may graduate from high school with an associate’s degree.

The Experimental Sites authority allows the Secretary of Education to test new ideas for up to three years. The Department has already noted its desire to extend this particular project for at least a fourth year to ensure high schools students who started the program in ninth grade would have the resources through graduation.

The Department is expected to issue more details when it publishes a formal proposal in the Federal Register in the coming weeks.

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