@nypapa Payment for these courses really depends on what laws a state legislature has put into place. College credits cost money. Some states have seen fit to cover these costs; others have not.
I will provide an example of how these credits are used. My son started college last year with something like 65 credits, 35 of which were from dual enrollment. He earned nine hours in ninth grade, 11 hours in summer school between his junior and senior year, and 15 hours his senior year. So he started school like all first-year students as a freshman, was a junior his second semester, and is a senior this year.
He is an accounting major and needs 150 hours to take the CPA exam, so he still has two years of school left. He has an accounting internship lined up for next summer that pays $25 an hour (plus overtime) that he only got because of his grade classification (90 percent of these interns are offered jobs). He managed to get an internship with a bank this summer making $13 an hour based on the fact that he was a rising senior. My son plans on earning a masters of accountancy, which I think if done right only takes one additional year. He has a free-tuition scholarship, but the cost of rent, board, books, and beer is killing me. So here are some numbers:
-$14,000: Approximate cost of tuition, books, parking pass, partial dining card for 35 dual enrollment credits at four-year college.
$ 60,000: Savings from shaving two years off educational experience
$ 9,000: Value of high-paid summer internships over jobs usually taken by freshmen and sophomores
$100,000: Estimated additional earnings by graduating two years early and taking a job
-$ 60,000: Estimated living expenses for the two years mentioned above
$169,000: Additional income and savings from dual enrollment and AP credits
-$ 74,000: Expenses associated with two years of dual enrollment and AP
$ 95,000: Approximate cash value of starting college with 65 college credits.