Dual enrollment is an educational option by which a high school student completes college coursework while still in high school, and earns dual credit for both high school and college requirements. Additionally, the college coursework appears on both the student’s high school and college transcripts.

The state of Georgia has had several programs over the years to help families pay for dual enrollment. These programs went by the names ACCEL, Move on When Ready, and eventually just "Dual Enrollment". As of 2020, the state will only pay for 30 semester hours of dual enrollment (but that's a full year of college!). Families can choose to self-pay for courses beyond that limit or for courses that aren't approved for the state funding.

The Dual Enrollment program pays for (or requires colleges to waive) all tuition, mandatory, non-course-related fees, and books. Dual Enrollment is available to high school students in 10th (for some courses), 11th and 12th grades who are enrolled in public school, private school or a home study program.

Dual Enrollment will pay for certain, approved college courses. A list of approved courses is maintained by the Georgia Student Finance Commission. Participation in the Dual Enrollment program requires the parents of a student enrolled in a home study program to sign an annual Participation Agreement, which specifies the duties and responsibilities that the parents and homeschool are agreeing to in order to receive Dual Enrollment funding. Dual Enrollment regulations require that all dual-enrolled courses must be fully completed prior to a student’s high school graduation.

For a student to participate in Dual Enrollment, s/he must be accepted for admission by a participating college or university. The admission requirements and deadlines vary among colleges. Families/students interested in Dual Enrollment participation should contact the college that your student is interested in attending as soon as possible for complete information related to dual enrollment admissions requirements and deadlines.

GHEA encourages families to research the colleges their student(s) may be interested in attending in order to be fully aware of the admission requirements and to be able to prepare for those. When considering dual enrollment, families should carefully consider student readiness vs. the expectations and demands of college-level work. Dual enrollment grades are reflected on the student’s college transcript, and the college admission, employment, and other application processes typically require listing all previous college attendance and attempted coursework.

The Dual Enrollment program is a state-funded program, whose funding is allocated annually by the legislature. Although Dual Enrollment and the HOPE Scholarship Program are both administered by the Georgia Student Finance Commission (GSFC), unlike the HOPE Scholarship, Dual Enrollment is not lottery-funded. Credit hours earned through Dual Enrollment will not reduce the number of credit hours a student may be eligible for through the HOPE Scholarship after high school graduation.

The program regulations for Dual Enrollment can be found on the GA Futures website. Please contact GHEA at contact@ghea.org if you need assistance navigating the Dual Enrollment process as a homeschooler.