State budget includes $15.5 million for dual enrollment tuition

• This helps prepare students for a college workload and allows them to build up credits at a lower cost, potentially decreasing the time and expense of a university degree.

Why it matters: Arizona students who take dual enrollment courses in high school are more than twice as likely to go to college, per a recent Helios Education Foundation study.

The latest: The state budget approved last month provides $15.5 million to reimburse dual enrollment tuition, with priority given to students who qualify for free or reduced lunch.

• Freshmen and sophomores can get up to $300 reimbursed and juniors and seniors can get $600.
• The funding will also provide $1,000 bonuses to instructors who teach these courses.

Zoom in: Epiphany Jones just graduated from ASU with her master's degree in social work, after earning her bachelor's degree in three years.

• Jones told us she was able to speed up her undergraduate experience because she earned English credits while at Kofa High School in Yuma.

By the numbers: Paul Perrault, Helios Education Foundation's senior VP of community impact and learning, tells Axios Phoenix that while dual enrollment has increased over the past few years, there are still disparities he hopes the new funding will address.

• In 2020, only about 17% of low-income students enrolled, compared with 32% of higher-income students.
• About 34% with white students enrolled, compared to 17% of Hispanic students and 13% of Black students.

What's next: Perrault called this year's budget addition a "good start" but says he hopes the state expands the program to encourage more students to take advantage of college courses while in high school.

Go deeper: Boosting Arizona college enrollment could mean billions in economic impact