College in High School Program

The RFP is posted on the Funding Opportunities webpage. Legislative Authority: As part of the FY 2026 State Enacted Budget, Chapter 53 of the Laws of 2025 established the College in High School Opportunity Fund and allocated a portion of the fund for College in High School programs approved by the New York State Education Department (NYSED). Purpose of Grant: The purpose of the grant program is to create and expand equitable access to dual enrollment programs across the state, where high school students have the opportunity to earn college credit while building the knowledge and skills needed for college and career aspirations. These programs can save students time and money in college and positively impact high school and college outcomes. In this grant program, economically disadvantaged high school students must incur no costs when they enroll in college courses. Project Period: 01/01/2027 - 6/30/2031 Eligible Applicants: New York State school districts and Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) are eligible to apply. For the purposes of this RFP, the New York City Public Schools (NYCPS) is a single school district. Charter schools and nonpublic schools may not apply for this grant or participate in the College in High School program. The eligible applicant must submit one partnership agreement with one or more eligible institutions of higher education (IHEs) to NYSED. The partnership may also include other entities that have a role in the program, such as businesses and community-based organizations. Eligible IHEs include New York State public, private, or independent degree-granting colleges and universities whose programs are registered with NYSED. For-profit IHEs are not eligible to serve as a higher education partner. Mandatory Program Requirement: The College in High School Program must meet seven program requirements to be considered for funding. The program requirement categories are: program design, student support, outreach, reflect the student population, college course subject areas, partnership agreement, and college course parameters (please see the "Program Requirements" section). Applicants must attest to all seven program requirements to be considered for funding. Amount of Funding: The funding is anticipated to be $9.1 million annually. Applicants will provide the requested award amount on the "Requested Award Form." The requested amount for each Program Year may not exceed $250,000 for applicants with a high school economically disadvantaged student enrollment of less than 5,000 students and may not exceed $750,000 for applicants with a high school economically disadvantaged student enrollment greater than or equal to 5,000 students, except for New York City Public Schools where the requested amount may not exceed $4.6 million. The P-12 partner will receive two types of payments: Initial Payment. Awardees will receive a one-time initial payment for allowable expenditures (please see the "Allowable Expenditures" section). The initial payment will be provided in Year 1 (2026-2027). Payments for College Credit Earned. For Program Years 2-5 (2027-2031), awardees will receive payments of $90 per college credit earned by economically disadvantaged high school students in the program. Funding beyond Program Year 1 will be contingent upon the State Legislature appropriating funds and the P-12 and higher education partners submitting required annual data by the deadline (please see the "Reporting" section). Application Due Date and Submission Instructions: Applicants are requested to submit their application electronically. The required documents, as listed in the "Application Checklist" section of this RFP, must be received via online form no later than December 10, 2026. Applications are due by 5:00 PM Eastern Time. Non-mandatory Notice of Intent: The Notice of Intent (NOI) is not a requirement for submitting a complete application by the application date. However, NYSED strongly encourages all prospective applicants to submit an NOI to ensure a timely and thorough review and rating process. The notice of intent is a simple email notice stating your organization's (use the legal name) intent to submit an application for this grant. Please also include your organization's NYS Vendor ID. The due date is November 25, 2026. Please send the NOI via this online form. Business enterprises awarded an identical or substantially similar procurement contract within the past five years: None Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business (SDVOB) SDVOB Goal: 0.00% Minority / Women Business Enterprise contracting goals (MWBE) Total MWBE Goals: 30.00% Disadvantaged Business Enterprise contracting goals (DBE) DBE Goal: 0.00%