Supporting College Success Through Dual Enrollment Act

To establish a grant program to enable States to promote participation in dual enrollment programs, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Supporting College Success Through Dual Enrollment Act 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) The future strength of the democracy of the United States, as well as the Nation's economy, depends upon ensuring a highly educated population and a skilled workforce with the knowledge necessary to compete in a globalized economy. (2) The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that a majority of the fastest-growing and highest-paying occupations require some form of postsecondary education, be it a 2-year degree, a 4-year degree, or an industry-recognized credential. (3) According to research conducted by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, 63 percent of all new job openings by 2018 will require at least some college education. (4) The cost of a college education is often the most significant obstacle that many students face in obtaining a college degree. Programs that help students accumulate college credit in high school can help reduce the overall cost of a college degree by as much as 12.5 percent, thus reducing the financial burden on students and taxpayers. Research has found that for every 1,000,000 students entering college with a semester’s worth of credit, overall college expenditures are reduced by $9,500,000,000. (5) Although more students begin college today than did 20 years ago, many are not graduating due to substantial challenges in negotiating the transition from high school to college. Fewer than 20 percent of students in grade 9 will graduate with a baccalaureate degree by the age of 24. (6) Research conducted by the Department of Education has found that postsecondary success is predicated on both rigorous academic preparation and a clear understanding of the expectations in college. The academic intensity of a student’s high school courses is a better predictor of whether a student will complete a bachelor’s degree than class rank, grade point average, or standardized admission test scores. (7) According to research conducted at the Teachers’ College at Columbia University, participation in dual enrollment programs is especially beneficial for students who are traditionally underrepresented in higher education, including low-income, first generation, and minority students. (8) Students participating in dual enrollment programs have better academic outcomes. Research conducted in Florida, New York, and California found that students in dual enrollment programs were, on average, more likely to graduate from high school, transition into a 4-year institution of higher education, persist in postsecondary education, and have a higher postsecondary grade point average, as demonstrated by the following: (A) Participants in New York City's dual enrollment program, College Now, were more likely than their peers to pursue a baccalaureate degree and had higher grade point averages than nonparticipants. Further, there was a positive correlation between participation in dual enrollment and completion of a baccalaureate degree. (B) Florida’s dual enrollment program participants were 4.3 percent more likely than their peers to earn a high school diploma and 7.7 percent more likely to enroll in a 4-year institution of higher education, and earned, on average, 15.1 more college credits than nonparticipants. (C) In Missouri, dual enrollment students had an 89 percent likelihood of returning for their second year of college, compared to 76 percent for students who entered college with no previous college credit. 3. Definitions In this Act: (1) Dual enrollment The term dual enrollment (A) takes courses offered through an institution of higher education while the student is enrolled in secondary school; and (B) earns both secondary school and postsecondary credit for the courses described in subparagraph (A). (2) Institution of higher education The term institution of higher education (3) Moderate- to low-income student The term moderate- to low-income student (4) Poverty line The term poverty line (5) Secondary school The term secondary school 20 U.S.C. 7801 et seq. (6) Secretary The term Secretary (7) State The term State 4. Grants authorized (a) Program authorized From amounts appropriated to carry out this Act, the Secretary shall make grants, from allotments under subsection (b), to States to enable the States to pay the Federal share of the costs of activities designed to promote participation in dual-enrollment programs by moderate- to low-income students. (b) Determination of allotment (1) Amount of allotment Subject to paragraph (2), the allotment provided under this subsection to each State that submits an approved application for a fiscal year shall be equal to the sum of— (A) the amount that bears the same relation to 50 percent of the amount appropriated under section 8 for such fiscal year as the number of residents in the State aged 5 through 17 who are living below the poverty line bears to the total number of such residents in all States that submitted approved applications; and (B) the amount that bears the same relation to 50 percent of the amount appropriated under section 8 for such fiscal year as the number of residents in the State aged 15 through 44 who are living below the poverty line bears to the total number of such residents in all States that submitted approved applications. (2) Minimum amount The allotment for each State under this section for a fiscal year shall not be an amount that is less than 0.5 percent of the total amount appropriated under section 8 for such fiscal year. (c) Federal share The Federal share of the cost of the activities funded under this Act shall not exceed 80 percent. The non-Federal share of the cost of such activities may be provided in cash or in kind, fairly evaluated, including services. (d) Supplement, not supplant Funds received by a State under a grant under this Act shall be used to supplement, and not supplant, non-Federal funds expended for dual enrollment programs. 5. Application and approval (a) Application A State desiring a grant under this section shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may require. The application shall— (1) describe the State's proposed program to support dual enrollment programs, which shall include— (A) aligning the kindergarten through grade 12, higher education, and career and technical education systems of the State to support dual enrollment programs; (B) requiring each local educational agency in the State, or each public institution of higher education that is partnering with a local educational agency pursuant to paragraph (2), to provide a counselor, advisor, or advisor working in conjunction with a school counselor, who specializes in dual enrollment, to provide high-quality advice to secondary school students and their parents on the dual enrollment program options, course selection, and other related issues; (C) ensuring that every public secondary school, including every public charter school, in the State offers a high-quality dual enrollment program, and that all secondary school students are informed about, or engaged in, the dual enrollment program by grade 10 or an earlier grade; (D) directly addressing participation in dual enrollment programs among low-income students; (E) developing a plan to ensure that pathways are available, and barriers are removed, in order to allow secondary school students participating in dual enrollment programs to matriculate to institutions of higher education, and attain a degree or appropriate certification; (F) developing a system of accountability; and (G) addressing the problems that students and schools in small communities face with respect to dual enrollment programs, including the difficulties in providing such students with the opportunity to participate at campuses of institutions of higher education; (2) include an assurance that every local educational agency in the State will form a partnership with 1 or more 2-year or 4-year degree-granting institutions of higher education to coordinate dual enrollment programs, under which the institution of higher education— (A) has the responsibility to administer the dual enrollment program, with the cooperation of the local educational agency; and (B) determines the curriculum, standards, and instructors to be used in the dual enrollment program; (3) include an assurance that the State will align State policy to ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, credits earned through a dual enrollment program are recognized throughout the system of public higher education of the State and count as credits earned for both secondary school graduation and graduation from a public institution of higher education; (4) include an assurance that the State will establish a policy to encourage matriculation and credit agreements among local educational agencies and institutions of higher education to encourage low-income students to attain a baccalaureate degree; (5) include an assurance that the State will establish a policy to encourage access to dual enrollment courses for as many students as possible and to prevent student disqualification for participation as much as possible, with eligibility requirements that— (A) are based on quantifiable, valid, and reliable measures of a student’s ability to succeed in a postsecondary education course; (B) use a consistent standard of readiness for postsecondary education for all secondary schools and public institutions of higher education in the State; and (C) are consistent with the eligibility standards established by the partner institution of higher education of the dual enrollment program; (6) include an assurance that the State will establish policies that— (A) maximize, to the extent practicable, the number of dual enrollment program students who take courses on the campuses of institutions of higher education, in classrooms with postsecondary education students, and with professors of the institutions of higher education; (B) in any case where providing courses of the dual enrollment program on a campus of an institution of higher education is not practicable, ensure that each course of the dual enrollment program that is taught in secondary schools— (i) is developed by the institution of higher education partner; (ii) is fully comparable with the courses offered at the campus of the institution of higher education; (iii) is augmented with campus experiences when reasonably achievable; and (iv) is taught by an instructor from the partner institution of higher education, where practicable, or, if not practicable, by an instructor who is selected, supervised, and evaluated by the institution of higher education; and (C) provide that all instructors of dual enrollment program classes are assessed by the partner institution of higher education in the same way that such institutions assess their own faculty; (7) describe how the State will incorporate dual enrollment program opportunities with programs and services provided under subpart 2 of part A of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (1070a–21 et seq.); (8) include an assurance that the State educational agency and the State system of public institutions of higher education will develop a plan to increase enrollment in postsecondary education among moderate- or low-income students and populations underrepresented in higher education, including underrepresented minorities, throughout the State; (9) describe how the State will align the State's career and technical education policy with dual enrollment programs, which may include— (A) establishing flexible pathways, which are career sequences that begin in secondary school and continue in postsecondary education; and (B) establishing State policies that— (i) broaden access to career and technical education and that provide needed supports to students participating in career and technical education; and (ii) support inclusion of work-based learning in flexible pathways, as described in subparagraph (A); (10) demonstrate that the State has enacted funding models that ensure that local educational agencies and institutions of higher education who participate in dual enrollment programs do not lose per-pupil funding for dually enrolled students; and (11) include an assurance that a student's participation in a dual enrollment program shall not negatively impact the student's eligibility for State financial assistance for postsecondary education. (b) Approval The Secretary shall approve any application for a State program that includes the components described in subsection (a). 6. Use of funds (a) In general (1) In general A State receiving a grant under this Act shall use grant funds to carry out any of the following activities: (A) Paying for tuition for moderate- to low-income students to take postsecondary-level courses while enrolled in secondary school through a dual enrollment program. (B) Textbooks, fees, and other expenses associated with a student's attendance of a course offered through a dual enrollment program. (C) Counseling and support services for students and families regarding dual enrollment programs, including services that will improve the postsecondary education enrollment and program completion rates of students in dual enrollment programs or reduce the postsecondary education costs for such students. (D) Creation of a credit-bearing, or noncredit-bearing, course to ensure that low-income and first generation college students— (i) are prepared for postsecondary education studies to be offered through a dual enrollment program; and (ii) have the requisite academic and nonacademic skills and resources necessary to succeed, understand expectations, help navigate the postsecondary education environment, and be able to advocate for themselves. (E) Options to encourage participation in dual enrollment programs by students and schools from small communities. (F) Other activities that support the purposes of this Act, as proposed and approved by the Secretary in the application. (2) Transportation costs A State receiving a grant under this Act that has additional grant funds available after carrying out activities described in paragraph (1), may use such funds to pay for the costs of providing transportation for students in rural areas to participate in dual enrollment programs. (b) Focus areas A State receiving a grant under this Act shall focus the activities supported under this section on dual enrollment programs offered through secondary schools in the State that— (1) are located in an area of high poverty; (2) serve a large number or percentage of students from populations underrepresented in higher education; (3) have a high secondary school dropout rate; (4) have a low percentage of graduates who enter postsecondary education; (5) are in a county or region of the State with low postsecondary education aspiration and attainment rates; or (6) are small schools whose academic offerings are limited by scale. 7. Student financial aid eligibility The Secretary shall ensure that— (1) a student's participation in a dual enrollment program does not negatively impact the student's eligibility for financial assistance under the Higher Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq. (2) for purposes of part C of title I, title IV, and any other provision, of such Act— (A) students participating in a dual enrollment program are not classified as first-time, full-time students of the partner institution of higher education of the program during the student's participation; and (B) in the case of a student who attends a dual enrollment program and then matriculates to an institution of higher education, the student's first year at such institution shall be considered to be the student's first year of a program of undergraduate education, regardless of the number of postsecondary credits that the student has previously earned through the dual enrollment program. 8. Authorization of appropriations There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act $150,000,000 for fiscal year 2015 and each succeeding fiscal year.

Summary: Supporting College Success Through Dual Enrollment Act - Directs the Secretary of Education to make matching grants to states to promote moderate- to low-income student participation in dual-enrollment programs. Defines a "dual enrollment program" as a program through which a secondary school student takes courses offered through an institution of higher education (IHE) while enrolled in secondary school for which the student earns both secondary and postsecondary school credit. Allots the grant funds to states based on each participating state's share of residents: (1) aged 5 through 17 who are living below the poverty line, and (2) aged 15 through 44 who are living below the poverty line. Requires grant applicants to assure the Secretary that every local educational agency (LEA) in the state will form a partnership with one or more two-year or four-year degree granting IHEs to coordinate dual enrollment programs under which the IHE: (1) is responsible for administering the dual enrollment program, with the LEA's cooperation; and (2) determines the curriculum, standards, and instructors to be used in the dual enrollment program. Requires states to use the grants to: cover the costs for moderate- to low-income secondary student participation in dual enrollment programs, provide counseling and support services for students and families regarding dual enrollment programs, create credit-bearing or noncredit-bearing courses to ensure that low-income and first generation college students have the skills to succeed in postsecondary education, encourage students and schools in small communities to participate in dual-enrollment programs, or engage in other activities that are approved by the Secretary and promote moderate- to low-income student participation in dual-enrollment programs. Requires states to focus such activities on dual enrollment programs offered through secondary schools that: are in high poverty areas, serve a large number or percentage of students from populations underrepresented in higher education, have a high dropout rate, have a low percentage of graduates who enter postsecondary education, are in an area of the state with low postsecondary education aspiration and attainment rates, or are small schools whose academic offerings are limited by scale. Directs the Secretary to ensure that a student's participation in dual enrollment programs has no negative effect on their eligibility for financial aid under the Higher Education Act of 1965.