This is the first of a two-part series on ASU’s Universal Learner Courses.

The concept of students taking college classes while still enrolled in high school has been around for over 50 years. The benefits of dual enrollment, or concurrent enrollment, are evident with higher rates of high school graduation, college enrollment, and college completion. Dual enrollment programs have historically been more heavily utilized and offered to higher-achieving students, often with counselors as the gatekeepers for determining whether a learner is ready for the rigor of college-level work during high school. Access to dual enrollment can also be dependent on the ability of a high schooler to commute to a local community college or university, as well as be limited to the more well-resourced