Now is a critical time for California policymakers to expand high school student access to dual enrollment community college classes, as persistent high school achievement gaps have grown larger due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the reliance on inequitable distance learning practices.

Dual enrollment is an educational practice that enables a high school student to enroll in and complete credit-bearing college courses. Completing these college courses may provide a student with both college and high school credits. Dual enrollment college courses may be offered on a college campus, in a high school classroom or via an online format. For more than a decade, expanding dual enrollment has been of great interest to California state policymakers.