Education Has No Limits, Dual Enrollment Continues Through Committee

Sacramento, CA – Today, Assemblymember Chris Holden’s bill– Dual Enrollment Opportunities and Outreach bill which would enable more local education agencies to establish dual enrollment opportunities for students, couple those opportunities with student support services and outreach campaigns to ensure the continued success of dual enrollment programs passed Assembly Committee on Higher Education. Assembly Bill 2617 would require that dual enrollment outcomes are studied for program improvements.

“Dual enrollment programs have illustrated the inequities and successes of education,” said Assemblymember Chris Holden. “I support dual enrollment as it welcomes youth into their careers and higher education in an intentional and thoughtful manner. Dual enrollment removes barriers and increases the likelihood of success for the next generation.”

Many Community Colleges would like to expand dual enrollment opportunities for students through these partnerships, but indicate they lacked the capacity to do so. The challenges of expanding dual enrollment capacity include administrative support, preparing faculty to teach college level courses to high school students, and access to partnership templates that effectively integrate dual enrollment into their college-wide strategy. Implementing an effective College and Career Access Pathways and other dual enrollment programs in large part turns on providing Community Colleges the necessary resources to increase their program capacity.

AB 2617 would allow and incentivize local education agencies to expand dual enrollment opportunities for all students, while targeting underrepresented students and those from low-income families, provide resources to effectively communicate dual enrollment opportunities to students, and ensure that students have program support in critical areas such as academic advising.

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