The Alabama Community College System (ACCS) announced record levels of participation in dual enrollment for the 2024–2025 academic year, reinforcing the ACCS’s stance that college is for everyone, including current high school students.
According to the ACCS Instruction, Research, and Development division, Alabama’s 24 community colleges make up less than half of the state’s 60 colleges and universities, yet they enroll 76% of all dual enrollment students statewide. The ACCS partnered with 534 Alabama high schools to offer dual enrollment opportunities to 40,625 public, private, and homeschooled students, reaching all 67 counties. This enrollment represents an 18% increase from the previous academic year and a 38% increase since 2022–2023.
Dual enrollment students enrolled in more than 1,000 unique courses, completing 295,266 credit hours while earning more than 1,500 credentials. Additionally, 143 students earned an associate degree. ACCS dual enrollment has proven to be a pathway to four-year universities, as more than 8,200 students enrolled at a four-year university during the 2024–2025 academic school year.
Among the most popular courses are foundational academic subjects such as English, history, biology, and psychology. English and history courses shined with between 6,000 and 9,000 registrations. These high levels of participation are accompanied by strong student performance, with pass rates typically between 86% and 94%.
Career and technical dual enrollment courses also showed exceptional performance. In hands-on programs such as Welding Technology, pass rates reached 94–95%, indicating both high engagement and strong mastery of job-ready skills.
Short-term, skills-focused credentials dominated student choices, particularly in high-demand fields such as Advanced Manufacturing, EMS, and Office Administration. These patterns reflect a strong alignment with regional workforce needs, with students opting for quicker, career-ready credentials that enable faster entry or advancement in technical and service-oriented industries.
Advanced Manufacturing stands out as the most in-demand pathway among CTE offerings, with a total of 750 credentials earned. Notably, most of the awards are short certificates (715), indicating that CTE students are primarily seeking fast-track training aligned with immediate workforce needs.
Community colleges play a central role in expanding early college access and advancing educational equity, reaching students across all backgrounds and providing opportunity for students who need it most. For instance, 42% of Alabama’s population lives in rural areas, and 46% of ACCS dual enrollment students are from rural zip codes, earning about half of all dual enrollment credit hours.
In the previous academic year, the ACCS served more than 2,500 high school students who initially would not have qualified to dually enroll at any college. To qualify, a student must meet the state-required GPA. Through GPA waivers, Alabama’s community colleges can lower the GPA requirement and provide higher education opportunities to CTE students.
Through state-supported Career and Technical Dual Enrollment (CTDE) Scholarships and college programs, students were awarded nearly $40 million in scholarships. As a result, community college dual enrollment students and their families face a significantly lower financial burden. The average tuition rate for an ACCS dually enrolled student is $24 per credit hour. Some students can complete an entire associate degree at no cost, eliminating an additional barrier by alleviating financial strain.
Dual enrollment at Alabama’s community colleges is allowing students to chart their own path in every corner of the state. As Alabama’s most inclusive and opportunity-expanding higher education option, the ACCS provides students the choice to pursue a four-year degree, explore career options, or immediately enter a high-demand workforce career.
Community colleges provide a pathway to a brighter future — and the ACCS is doing it affordably and successfully.
