Michigan’s Dual Enrollment Task Force recently released recommendations on how to remove barriers and improve access so that more students can take advantage of the benefits of dual enrollment. These recommendations come at a pivotal moment as ongoing research shows that too many Michigan students are missing out on this important opportunity.

Access to dual enrollment is crucial for our state’s students as it allows eligible high school students to take college-level courses and earn postsecondary credits before graduating from high school. Research consistently highlights the benefits that dual enrollment offers students, including stronger high school grades and completion, higher rates of college enrollment, increased college credit accumulation, and greater likelihood of degree completion. Dual enrollment can also reduce the time it takes to earn a degree and lower overall college costs, directly addressing key concerns such as affordability. Students who took dual enrollment courses in high school demonstrated higher persistence rates from the first to second year in college.

Michigan Continues to Trail Behind National Averages

Based on recently released national data from the Civil Rights Data Collection (2023-2024), Michigan ranks 47th in dual enrollment participation with only 5.6% of eligible students participating in dual enrollment courses — nationally, the dual enrollment participation rate was 12%. While Michigan’s dual enrollment participation rate grew faster than the national rate between 2022 and 2024, the state continued to fall behind the country average.

Additionally, dual enrollment participation does not mirror the diversity of Michigan’s high school population. Students of color represented approximately 35% of high school enrollment in 2023-24 but only 26.6% of students participated in dual enrollment.

These disparities do not reflect a lack of student ability or interest, rather they highlight the systemic barriers that continue to hinder Michigan students’ ability to access dual enrollment opportunities. Program costs, limited awareness of dual enrollment opportunities and benefits, inconsistent encouragement from school staff, and uneven access to advising and eligible courses all contribute to inequitable access to dual enrollment.

Opportunities Vary Widely Across Michigan

An EdTrust-Midwest analysis of more recent state data provides additional insight into participation across Michigan. During the 2024-25 school year, more than 461,000 students were eligible for dual enrollment, but less than 10% of eligible students participated. Among participating students, 93% successfully earned college credit. This high success rate demonstrates what students can accomplish when they are given access to the opportunity.

Participation, however, varies considerably by region. Approximately 22% of eligible students participated in Northeast Michigan, comprised of mainly rural communities and small towns, compared with just 4% in the Oakland region, which is heavily suburban. Participation also reached 15% in both the Central and Western Upper Peninsula regions but remained at approximately 5% in the Greater West Michigan and Macomb regions.

These differences reveal that Michigan’s challenge extends beyond overall participation. Where students live substantially shapes whether dual enrollment is a realistic and accessible option.

Michigan Has Taken an Important Step

Dual enrollment costs have long been a concern for advocates: since dual enrollment tuition typically came out of districts’ per-pupil foundation allowance, many schools shied away from advertising opportunities to students. The state’s FY27 budget includes $40 million to reimburse eligible school districts for dual enrollment costs. This investment is an important step toward expanding participation and reducing the financial pressure that can discourage districts from offering these opportunities.

Additionally, the Michigan Dual Enrollment Task Force’s recommendations released in August call for strengthening access, funding, coordination, and accountability across the state. Established by the Legislature in 2025, the task force examined persistent inconsistencies within Michigan’s dual enrollment system, including concerns related to funding, eligibility, credit transfer, oversight, and incentives for participation. The task force also published recommendations to the state legislature, including:

• Establish an ongoing state appropriation to reimburse districts for eligible dual enrollment costs
• Create a statewide reimbursement system with clear and predictable cost limits
• Utilize multiple measures, rather than relying on a single criterion, to determine student eligibility
• Expand guidance and professional development for school staff responsible for informing and advising students
• Improve longitudinal data collection and reporting
• Ensure that credits earned through dual enrollment transfer and count toward postsecondary credentials
• Extend eligible expenses to include costs such as transportation, books, required course materials, parking, and campus fees
• Prioritize additional assistance for students in high-poverty districts and rural or remote communities
• Prevent districts from requiring families to repay course costs when students withdraw from or do not pass a course
• Include summer courses within the state’s dual enrollment framework

The recommendations addressing the full costs of participation are especially important. Tuition is not the only barrier students face. Transportation, books, course materials, and other expenses can make an ostensibly free opportunity inaccessible, especially for students from low-income backgrounds and students living far from a college campus.

State Leaders Must Build On This Momentum

Michigan can build on the FY27 investment by establishing a sustainable statewide funding system that expands access without increasing student costs or forcing districts to rely on their per-pupil operating funds.

The state should also ensure that funding is paired with stronger outreach, advising, transferable courses, and transparent data. Expanding the number of available courses will not be enough if students and families do not know about them, cannot afford the associated expenses, or later discover that their credits will not apply toward a degree.

Dual enrollment offers students two benefits at once: an opportunity for students to complete rigorous high school coursework and gain a more affordable head start on college. Michigan now has an opportunity to move toward a coordinated statewide system; however, doing so will require sustained funding, clearer expectations, and targeted support for the students and communities that have historically had the least access to dual enrollment opportunities. If state leaders act on the task force’s recommendations, the benefits of dual enrollment can reach far more Michigan students.

Photo by Allison Shelley for EDUimages