Alabama House committee approves bill protecting access to dual enrollment programs
Rep. Jeana Ross, R-Guntersville, checks her phone during a meeting of the Alabama House of Representatives on Feb. 6 2025 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. Ross is sponsoring a bill that would ensure high school students have access to dual enrollment programs. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)
A bill aiming to protect Alabama high school students' access to dual enrollment programs won unanimous support in the House Education Policy Committee on Wednesday.
HB 102, sponsored by Rep. Jeana Ross, R-Guntersville, prohibits community colleges and universities from denying students access to dual enrollment programs. Ross said the bill aims to expand accessibility to dual enrollment, but said that she did not know of any specific incidents of students being denied access.
'The main purpose of this is to just ensure that students have the option and the availability to take dual enrollment classes,' she said.
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A substitute bill from Rep. Marcus Paramore, R-Troy, incorporated universities in the language of the bill. The substitution was adopted unanimously.
Although the bill aims to expand access to dual enrollment, Rep. Barbara Drummond, D-Mobile, said she wanted to see more marketing for dual enrollment courses.
'I just find that so many of the students who fit into the criteria don't know the program exists,' she said.
Rep. Mark Gidley, R-Hokes Bluff, echoed Drummond saying participating in dual enrollment gives students a head start on their career.
'I've been personally involved in watching what dual enrollment can do, and what a leg up it gives our students,' he said. 'Many of them graduate high school, sometimes with a dual certificate, because they've had this opportunity.'
The bill now goes to the full House.
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