June, 2026
State Policy Guidance: A Roadmap to Strengthen Dual Enrollment Through Alignment, Affordability, and Open Educational Resources
Dual enrollment is now one of the fastest-growing pathways to college. In fact, 2.8 million high school students took at least one college course during the 2023–2024 school year. However, a persistent barrier remains hidden in plain sight. That barrier is the cost of textbooks and instructional materials.
To date, many states have moved to reduce or eliminate dual enrollment tuition. Yet far fewer have addressed materials costs. These costs can reach hundreds of dollars per course. As a result, they often determine whether a low-income student can enroll at all. Fortunately, State Policy Guidance: A Roadmap to Strengthen Dual Enrollment Through Alignment, Affordability, and Open Educational Resources offers state leaders a practical path forward.
The GoOpen National Network—led by ISKME—developed this guidance in partnership with the College in High School Alliance (CHSA). In addition, the the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation supported the work. Above all, the guidance positions open educational resources (OER) as a scalable strategy. Specifically, OER can lower costs while strengthening alignment between K–12 and higher education.
What's Inside the Guidance
First, the research team conducted focus groups and interviews with dual enrollment and OER practitioners. Then, they translated those insights into eight research-informed policy recommendations:
- Create dedicated, ongoing state support for dual enrollment instructional materials, with an OER priority
- Build statewide OER course shells in the dominant learning management system for the most-enrolled courses
- Establish a statewide OER and dual enrollment support hub—"a home for dual enrollment"
- Support instructors to adopt and adapt OER through microgrants and stipends
- Fund professional development and cross-sector faculty learning communities
- Invest in digital infrastructure and offline or print-ready OER for rural and low-bandwidth regions
- Rebuild school-level library and media specialist capacity with state grants
- Standardize data collection and reporting on textbook costs and OER use
Built for States Where They Are
Notably, states face constrained budgets and competing priorities. For that reason, every recommendation includes three tiers of action: No-Cost Actions, Low-Cost Actions, and Strategic Investments. Therefore, leaders can begin without new appropriations. In fact, many of the highest-impact first steps require little or no new funding. For example, states can clarify cost-sharing agreements or convene cross-sector conversations.
Meanwhile, the guidance highlights another key point. K–12 districts and regional education service agencies play a pivotal role in procurement, technology access, and student supports. Yet these essential partners are too often underleveraged in dual enrollment planning.
Who Should Read It
Ultimately, this roadmap is designed for state education agencies, higher education coordinating boards, K–12 districts, and policymakers. In short, it serves anyone seeking to expand affordable, high-quality dual enrollment. As the guidance puts it, once affordability, alignment, and capacity are in place, OER can become the default—not a mandate.
Access the paper
State Policy Guidance: A Roadmap to Strengthen Dual Enrollment Through Alignment, Affordability, and Open Educational Resources
