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‘Families in limbo’: After budget cut, some MCPS students to pay for dual enrollment

Concerns raised over lack of communicate on cost for families Some Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) students participating in dual enrollment in the 2026-2027 school year may be on the hook for hundreds of dollars of expenses following a $1.4...

Dan Murphy • •3 min read
‘Families in limbo’: After budget cut, some MCPS students to pay for dual enrollment
Family & Education

‘Families in limbo’: After budget cut, some MCPS students to pay for dual enrollment

Concerns raised over lack of communicate on cost for families

By

Ashlyn Campbell

July 10, 2026 11:27 a.m.

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    MCPS and Board of Education headquarters building.
    MCPS and Board of Education headquarters in Rockville. Credit: Elia Griffin

    Some Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) students participating in dual enrollment in the 2026-2027 school year may be on the hook for hundreds of dollars of expenses following a $1.4 million reduction in funds for the college courses. 

    “It’s not fair to have families in limbo,” Brigid Howe, president of the Montgomery County Council of PTAs and a parent of a student taking dual enrollment courses, told Bethesda Today on Thursday. She added that as of Thursday families haven’t received notifications on whether they will have to pay for tuition. “It is known that this is a possibility, and for it to be July and payments are due in August is really unfair to parents.”  

    Dual enrollment courses are classes that allow high school students to take Montgomery College courses while completing high school. Typically, MCPS would cover the costs associated with the college classes including tuition, fees and textbooks for enrolled MCPS high school students.  

    Superintendent Thomas Taylor told reporters in May after the budget was passed that the district will be reducing the number of students it will cover the tuition for due to a $1.4 million decrease in funds for the program. 

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    The reductions came after the county school board voted 7-1 in May to approve the fiscal year 2027 budget. The emotionally fraught deliberations followed the County Council’s May adoption of a $7.9 billion county operating budget that had a $36 million shortfall between the district’s expenses and its approved funding.    

    “This budget cut in particular reflects going to the state’s definition for college and career ready, which is a little bit more stringent than the metrics that we’ve applied to covering the cost of dual enrollment,” Taylor said after the budget was passed in May. 

    The state’s 2021 landmark education reform bill, Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, outlines college and career readiness standards. According to the Blueprint website, the state aims to have all students meet the standard by the end of their 10th grade year. Students can meet the standards through a mix of taking assessments such as the SAT and earning certain grades in courses.   

    In a Thursday statement to Bethesda Today, MCPS spokesperson Liliana Lopez said the budget cuts apply to all students who do not meet the college and career standards regardless of grade, however most of the standards are geared toward 11th and 12th graders.  

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    “While every eligible student in grades 9 through 12 will still have access to take these college courses, the reality is that the district can no longer cover the cost for anyone who hasn’t met those specific state benchmarks,” Lopez said. “If a rising 10th grader wants to stay enrolled for the fall and doesn’t have [college and career readiness standards] status, their family will have to cover the related costs out of pocket or apply for financial aid through the Montgomery College Dual Enrollment Grant.” 

    Families could be paying more than $550 for one three-credit hour class, according to the Montgomery College tuition schedule.  

    Howe told Bethesda Today that the district has not communicated to families who would be impacted on the potential cost.  

    “While I understand the budget was very difficult … the haste at which this is happening, and the turnaround from what was promised to students is what concerns me,” Howe told Bethesda Today.  

    Lopez said the district will reach out to affected students and families as soon as the end-of-year college and career readiness data is finalized. Lopez said the district was set to extract numbers on the number of students impacted after the school year ended and was expecting to have a better picture after final numbers on career and college readiness were available.  

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    For Howe, whose son is a 10th grader taking dual enrollment classes through the Middle College program at Northwood High in Rockville who may not meet the standards yet, she’s concerned about her son’s peers, who may not be able to come up with $550 so quickly. For the ’24-’25 school year, 59.6% of the Northwood’s population qualifies for Free and Reduced Meals, a measure of poverty.  

    “I am grateful that I’m in a position where I can come up with the funding to pay tuition on short notice. I know that is not the case for all of my son’s classmates,” Howe said. “Coming up with $550 with very short notice is hard for any family. But might be an impossible barrier for a family with limited means.”  

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    Originally published at Bethesdamagazine