Dual Enrollment

What is dual enrollment?

Dual enrollment is a program that allows high school students to take college-level courses and earn college credits while still enrolled in high school. This program provides students with the opportunity to advance their education by experiencing college coursework and gaining college credits before graduating from high school.

Dual enrollment represents a promising lever for increasing educational equity, given its large scale and demonstrated effectiveness for increasing college access and success among its participants. Black, Latinx, and other minoritized students benefit from dual enrollment participation, yet these and other groups underrepresented in higher education often do not have meaningful access to these programs. Strong dual enrollment programs have the potential to raise college enrollment rates among high school graduates and improve college-attainment rates for students who participate.

Dual enrollment programs are widespread nationally, but access to dual enrollment coursework is uneven and replicates existing educational inequities. Compared to the overall composition of secondary school enrollment, students with disabilities, English learners, American Indian, Black, Latinx, multiracial, and Pacific Islander students—and men across all these groups—were underrepresented among dual enrollment participants during the 2017-18 school year 

The scarcity of qualified high school instructors is a major hurdle to broadening access to dual enrollment, particularly in underserved rural and urban Title 1 high schools. Expanding the instructor pool is essential so that students are not excluded from taking dual enrollment courses based on their local high school’s access to qualified instructors.

Recommendations

• Dedicate federal funding to support high school instructors in completing required graduate coursework for dual enrollment teaching certification.
• Align teacher pipeline initiatives and certification efforts to increase the number of qualified dual enrollment instructors. Expand federal funding to support high school instructors in completing required graduate coursework.

Equitable Access to Rigorous College-Preparatory Coursework

Access to college-prep coursework in high school plays a critical role in shaping students’ ability to attend four-year colleges, especially selective institutions. However, systemic barriers continue to limit opportunities for Latinx, Black, underrepresented Asian American, and NHPI, and American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) students. Rigorous courses, such as Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), and dual enrollment are often central to college admissions decisions, particularly in states like California where completion of A-G coursework is required for admission to public universities. Despite the importance of these courses, white students enroll in them at significantly higher rates, according to 2021-2022 federal data. These disparities restrict postsecondary access and success for many minoritized students. The following college and university policy recommendations aim to address these inequities by supporting high schools in expanding equitable access to rigorous, college-prep coursework. 

Recommendations

• Increase federal funding and grants to support states and local districts in expanding equitable access to rigorous coursework, including fully funding dual enrollment programs and subsidizing associated costs such as transportation and materials. 
• Develop national guidelines for credit transferability and fund research on effective online and in-person delivery methods to close racial and socioeconomic gaps in advanced course participation.

Recruitment Practices

Some widely used recruitment strategies and practices at selective universities create barriers to admission for underrepresented minoritized students while creating an unfair advantage to higher income white students.  

In particular, early admission deadlines, legacy admissions policies, and demonstrated interest policies prove problematic when it comes to an equitable admissions process. 

Legacy admissions favors students who are not first in their family to attend college. Historically, legacy admissions was used at several Ivy League colleges to favor white Christian students and purposely exclude Jewish students and non-white Black, AIAN, and other minoritized students. 

Admitting students based on their demonstrated interest in a particular college or early decision admission, which requires an early, binding commitment to a school that is the candidate’s top choice, may seem neutral, but they perpetuate inequities in practice by advantaging students who attend well-resourced high schools with sufficient college counseling support, substantial financial resources, and family members with experience navigating the college admissions process.

Recommendations

• The U.S. Department of Education should issue national guidelines to colleges and universities encouraging the removal of policies and practices like demonstrated interest, early admission, and legacy admissions.
• Encourage states to prioritize the enrollment of in-state students at public colleges and universities to maintain access for in-state low-income, minoritized students.

All talented Americans, regardless of their wealth or income status, deserve the opportunity to successfully obtain a college education. Supporting a diverse student population in affording a high-quality college degree means comprehensively addressing and investing in the resources, strategies, and supports that directly impact low-income and minoritized students. 

Public colleges enroll more than 75% of undergraduate students, including 81% of racially minoritized students, yet state support for these institutions and their students has lagged for decades and was battered during the Great Recession. With less money coming from state governments, colleges and universities leaned more heavily on tuition as a source of revenue. At public colleges, net tuition revenue per student is 62.9% higher than it was in 2001. In addition to underfunding colleges and universities, state and federal grant aid has failed to keep up with students’ rising costs. 

Students, particularly low-income students and minoritized students, struggle to cover total college costs, and, even after accounting for grant aid, have increasingly come to rely on loans to bridge the affordability gap. Over the last two decades, debt held by bachelor’s degree recipients has substantially increased at the national level. 

Pell Grant

What is the Pell Grant?

The Federal Pell Grant is a need-based financial aid program in the United States designed to help low-income undergraduate students access higher education. It is one of the largest sources of federal grant money awarded to students, and unlike loans, it does not need to be repaid, making it a crucial resource for students who might otherwise struggle to afford college.

Providing need-based grant aid to help more than six million low-income students nationwide—the vast majority of whom have family incomes at or below $40,000—cover college costs each year, the Pell Grant program is a critical investment that the federal government must leverage when developing a more equitable affordability pathway for students.

Pell Grants help students cover tuition and other college-related expenses, including housing, transportation, food, and books. The Pell Grant program is particularly crucial for minoritized students, with half of Latinx, 60% of Black, 39% of NHPI, and 45% of AIAN students receiving a Pell Grant in academic year 2019-20.

To move the needle on affordability with federal investments and fulfill the promise of making college truly affordable and accessible for all eligible students, policymakers must invest in and strengthen this cornerstone program.

Recommendations

• Invest in the Pell Grant and double the maximum award to cover roughly half the cost of attending a four-year public college or university. In 1975-76, the Pell Grant award covered more than 75% of the average total cost of tuition, fees, and room and board at public four-year colleges. During the 2019-20 academic year, the maximum Pell Grant award covered less than one-third of these costs. 
• Restore automatic inflation adjustments to the Pell Grant to ensure predictable annual increases going forward and to reduce future erosion of the grant’s purchasing power. Pell Grant awards were tied to inflation from 2013 through the 2017-18 award year; without the automatic adjustment, grant awards will not keep pace with inflation.  
• Fund Pell Grants entirely through mandatory spending to protect the longevity of the program. The program functions like an entitlement, but largely relies on discretionary funding. This can eliminate the need for annual appropriations and provide automatic funding adjustments based on changes in participation. 
• Expand Pell Grant eligibility to undocumented students. Aside from the equity imperative, this also has an economic upside since it enables beneficiaries of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to pursue higher education opportunities more easily and to upskill some of the nation’s workforce. 
• Eliminate the taxation on Pell Grants when used to cover any non-tuition costs. Currently, Pell Grants are not taxed as income if used to pay for required tuition, fees, books, supplies, or equipment; however, they are taxed as income if used to pay for transportation, food, housing, or other eligible costs of attendance.

Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is a form that students in the United States complete to apply for financial aid for college or graduate school. It is administered by the U.S. Department of Education and serves as the gateway for students to access federal financial aid, including grants, loans, and work-study programs. 

The FAFSA collects detailed information about the students and, if applicable, their family’s financial situation, including income, assets, and other relevant financial data. This information is used to calculate the Expected Family Contribution (EFC), a figure that helps determine how much financial aid a student is eligible to receive. The lower the EFC, the higher the potential aid package.

The application process is free, and students are encouraged to complete the FAFSA as soon as possible after it becomes available on October 1st each year, as some financial aid is awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. The FAFSA can be completed online, through the official FAFSA website, or via a paper form.

Completing the FAFSA is essential for any student seeking federal financial aid, as it provides access to various programs, including: Federal Pell Grant; Federal Direct Loans; Federal Work-Study Program; and, Other Federal Grants and Scholarships.

In addition to federal aid, many states and institutions use FAFSA information to award their own scholarships, grants, and other forms of financial assistance. As a result, completing the FAFSA is often the first and most important step in securing financial aid for higher education.

Recommendations

• Incentivize states to mandate financial aid application completion for high school students.
• Allocate funding for enhanced outreach in low-completion high schools and high-poverty areas, including compensation for staff assisting with financial aid applications and providing overtime pay.

Federal-State Funding Partnership

States and the federal government spend hundreds of billions annually on higher education, but the lack of a direct funding relationship between them hinders efforts to lower college costs, reduce student debt, and enhance institutional quality. To address these issues and create a system where students can earn a four-year degree without incurring debt, there is a need for increased need-based grant aid and new, equitable investments in public colleges. State disinvestment and funding disparities, particularly affecting institutions serving low-income and minoritized students, exacerbate rising tuition and debt. A successful solution involves creating a federal-state funding partnership tailored to individual state needs, incentivizing states to reinvest in public institutions, and ensuring equitable funding. Such a partnership would require significant effort but is crucial for reducing costs, improving quality, and increasing graduation rates.

A successful federal-state partnership must be designed with the express purpose of enabling states to reinvest in public institutions, to maintain investment across economic cycles, and to provide more equitable funding across public institutions. A federal-state partnership is also an unprecedented opportunity for the federal government to incentivize, equip, and support states and institutions to reduce costs, improve educational quality, and increase completion rates.

Recommendations

• Provide an affordability guarantee to students and families ensuring all students, especially low-income students, many of whom are racially minoritized students, have the financial resources they need to cover their college costs (including expenses beyond tuition) without taking on too much debt.
• Develop formulas to increase resource equity across public colleges and universities—especially those that serve many low-income students and racially minoritized students—with the funding they need to provide both a high-quality education and sufficient student supports.
• Increase and stabilize funding for public higher education by incentivizing states to increase investments in public higher education and to maintain state funding across economic cycles.

Transfer

Every year, hundreds of thousands of students in the U.S. enroll in community colleges, with the vast majority—80%, according to one estimate—aspiring to transfer and complete a bachelor’s degree. Among the 1.4 million students entering a four-year college or university in fall 2022, 38% were doing so as transfer students. 

Transfer from a community college to a four-year institution is a distinct component of higher education and has long been envisioned as an accessible and affordable route to a bachelor’s degree and beyond. A robust transfer pathway is also critical to ensuring equity in higher education. Nationwide, community colleges are open-access institutions, enrolling approximately 9 million students annually—nearly 40% of all undergraduates—and providing an entry point to college for millions of students every year. Large numbers of students who are Latinx, Black, underrepresented Asian American and NHPI, and AIAN, as well as low-income, English language learners, and other minoritized student populations, enroll in community college. Community college enrollments nationally represent 39% of all Black undergraduates, 48% of all Latinx undergraduates, 52% of all AIAN undergraduates, and 34% of all NHPI undergraduates.

Community college transfer pathways have immense potential for advancing equity in higher education by providing a route to a four-year degree for Latinx, Black, underrepresented Asian American and NHPI, and AIAN students, but this potential has been squandered. Misaligned policies and practices between postsecondary institutions create barriers for transfer students, with disproportionate impacts on students from minoritized backgrounds. 

Too few transfer-intending community college students ever transfer to a four-year institution, with far fewer completing their bachelor’s degrees, and barriers in the transfer process disproportionately thwart students from marginalized groups. Nationally, approximately 80% of new, associate degree-seeking community college entrants intend to transfer, but only 31% ever transfer to a four-year institution, and only 13% complete a bachelor’s degree within six years.

For the community college transfer pathway to realize its potential for advancing equity, federal leaders must support  students by removing major barriers to transfer that disproportionately impact students of minoritized backgrounds.

Recommendations

• Allocate Department of Education grants to encourage states to adopt best transfer practices.
• Strengthen the Higher Education Act to promote and enforce faster transfer reforms.
• Increase Pell Grant maximums to fully cover higher education costs, aiding timely transfers and degree completion.
• Allocate funds to the Department of Education for a competitive grant program encouraging states to adopt and expand best practices in transfer pathways.
• Enhance transfer provisions in the Higher Education Act (HEA) with enforcement and incentives for faster reform.

Black Student Success 

Black student enrollment in postsecondary education has declined by 8.4 percent since Fall 2019, one of the steepest declines among all racial and ethnic groups. Significant disparities also persist between Black high school graduates and their white peers in immediate college enrollment rates. For decades, researchers and advocates have highlighted the systemic barriers Black students face in accessing, navigating, and completing college. In response to the heightened racial reckoning of 2020, many institutions publicly committed to advancing racial equity and improving outcomes for Black students. However, these commitments must be matched with concrete policy action. As colleges and universities work to fulfill their missions of equity and inclusion, they must implement policies and practices that center the lived experiences and intersectional identities of Black students. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) continue to lead in educating and graduating Black students despite receiving fewer public resources. State policymakers must ensure equitable investment in HBCUs as part of a broader strategy to advance racial equity. Ultimately, building a student-centered postsecondary system requires that state policies reflect and respond to the needs and realities of Black students across all institution types.

Recommendations

• Develop an institutional scorecard to track Black student access, success, and campus climate.
• Push accreditors to include Black student success metrics in institutional quality reviews.
• Increase Pell Grants to fully cover the cost of attendance at public colleges and universities.