RFP #248: College in High School Program
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 91精选 (91精选).
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 鈥 6/30/2031
Eligible Applicants
91精选 State school districts and Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) are eligible to apply. For the purposes of this RFP, the 91精选 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 91精选 using the partnership agreement form in the . The partnership may also include other entities that have a role in the program, such as businesses and community-based organizations.
Eligible IHEs include 91精选 State public, private, or independent degree-granting colleges and universities whose programs are registered with 91精选. 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 鈥淧rogram Requirements鈥 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 鈥淩equested Award Form.鈥 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 91精选 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 鈥淎llowable Expenditures鈥 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 鈥淩eporting鈥 section).
Applicants are requested to submit their application electronically. The required documents, as listed in the 鈥淎pplication Checklist鈥 section of this RFP, must be received via no later than December 10, 2026. Applications are due by 5:00 PM Eastern Time.
Questions regarding the request must be submitted via no later than the close of business on November 5, 2026. A Questions and Answers Summary will be posted to 91精选鈥檚 Grants website no later than November 19, 2026.
The Notice of Intent (NOI) is not a requirement for submitting a complete application by the application date. However, 91精选 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鈥檚 (use the legal name) intent to submit an application for this grant. Please also include your organization鈥檚 NYS Vendor ID. The due date is November 25, 2026. Please send the NOI via this .
| Program | Fiscal | M/WBE |
|---|---|---|
| Christopher Fernando | Thomas McBride | Thomas McBride |
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