[1] In the mid-1990s a movement started to formalize a national accreditation body for concurrent and dual enrollment programs.
In March 1997 the first national meeting of concurrent enrollment professionals was convened by Syracuse University at the American Association for Higher Education conference.
Two years later, in 1999, 20 institutions of higher education officially established the National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships - NACEP - by adopting bylaws and a mission statement.
In some cases, the student may even be able to attain an Associate of Arts or equivalent degree shortly before or after their high school graduation.
[6] In addition, dual enrollment may be a cost-efficient way for students to accumulate college credits because courses are often paid for and taken through the local high school.
In the George Washington Early College Program (GWECP-AA), students at the School Without Walls Senior High School are enrolled at the George Washington University and take a full course-load at the university, along with other undergraduate students.
In Louisiana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon and Tennessee, the states themselves are responsible for student tuition payment and in other states like Florida, the school district is responsible for the student dual enrollment program tuition.
States may choose to go into a contract with a secondary institution and may be reimbursed upon students' satisfactory grade achievement.
States and school districts may also choose to cover all or part of the tuition cost with a max college credit limit before the student is responsible for payment.
The Running Start program makes tuition rates lower for high school students.
[10] Running Start removes some of the barriers high school students face in taking college courses.
[12] From a financial stand point, in the United States some aspects grant funding to both the high school and colleges per student.
They also needed to learn study habits, how to ask professors for help, and other beneficial student practices, all of which contrast to high school experiences.
Three themes were found in their interviews: “issues in credit and grades, negative interactions with others, and limited support systems.”[15] The biggest problem brought up by students was “issues in credit and grades.” Students often lamented how their grades in college classes would affect their overall high school transcript and quite often result in a lower GPA.
The dual enrollment students reflect on their past actions might have warranted such treatment as Roger says, “we weren't very mature.” The final negative theme – “limited support systems” – stems to both the college and the high school.
The faculty commented on how dual enrollment gave students the opportunity to gain college credit.
[24] That allows students to benefit from the collective knowledge of all universities and prevent them from duplicating unnecessary course offerings at each institution.