In an October 9 webinar, the California Department of Education (CDE) provided information about the application process for College and Career Access Pathways (CCAP) and Middle College and Early College (MCEC) dual enrollment grants including timelines, allowable expenses, and scoring. They also reviewed details about the new application platform and provided tips and recommendations for navigating it.
Applications are due October 30.
Differences from previous grant rounds
Round 4 grants will run three years to give LEAs time to spend funds, because the application process is taking place later in the calendar year (in the fall instead of spring, compared with previous grant application cycles). The official grant period for Round 4 grants began on July 1, 2026, and LEAs must expend funds by June 30 2029. CDE will begin sending funds to Round 4 grantees January 1, 2027.
Subsequent grant rounds are anticipated to return to the previous spring RFA cycle and will be two-year grants. The RFA for Round 5 grants is estimated for early 2027.
MCEC grants will be available at two levels: $250,000 to start a new middle/early college school or program, or $100,000 to expand an existing school or program. This is a change from previous rounds, where the MCEC grant was set at a flat $250,000.
There’s no change to the CCAP grant amount, which remains at $100,000 to support a new CCAP or expand an existing one. Note that CDE recently amended the CCAP RFA funding section to remove the text that states schools can be funded per pathway added to the CCAP partnership.
LEAs may receive one additional grant allocation of $50,000 to expand dual enrollment opportunities directly to justice-involved youth in county-operated facilities. An LEA can only receive the additional $50,000 once per grant period. If an LEA is applying for multiple grants, they’ll need to figure out which one the additional allocation would apply to. Please note: There are very specific eligibility criteria for the additional funding. If you have questions, contact CDE at CCAPgrant@cde.ca.gov for the CCAP RFA or MCECgrant@cde.ca.gov for the MCEC RFA.
Round 4 applications will use the online PGMS NextGen platform, so LEAs may need to set up new accounts on the platform.
Eligibility
LEAs that previously received one of the dual enrollment grants can only apply for new schools to receive funds, or for a different type of dual enrollment grant. LEAs that haven’t received any dual enrollment grants can apply for both types — CCAP and MCEC.
One useful way to think about eligibility: Each CDS code (representing one school) can have, at most, one active CCAP grant and one MCEC grant at the same time. A school can’t have two overlapping CCAP grants at the same time. Similarly, a school can’t have two MCEC grants at the same time.
Effectively, this means that any school with a currently active grant — from Round 1, 2 or 3 — would next be eligible to apply for the same type of grant in the Round 5 RFA scheduled for early 2027.
Additional Resources
Applicants should be sure to review the scoring rubrics in the RFAs for CCAP and MCEC. The rubrics for both types of dual enrollment grants correspond to the elements of high-quality dual enrollment and the criteria for the California Exemplary Dual Enrollment Award. These elements are equity, partnerships, pathway design, student supports, and sustainability.
The CDE FAQs on dual enrollment includes updated info about minimum instructional minutes, effective starting in the 2026-27 school year. See FAQ #4.
CDE provided a link to several resources including the webinar presentation slides, template support letters, and examples of applications that address the grant rubric.
For questions about the CCAP RFA, email CCAPgrant@cde.ca.gov. For MCEC RFA questions, email MCECgrant@cde.ca.gov.