Dual-Enrollment Proposal in N.Y. Faces Fiscal Hurdle

The New York state board of regents’ proposal for a new, $100 million dual-enrollment grant program aimed at giving at least 12,000 disadvantaged students a leg up for college may end up competing for a share of state education aid, amid a fiscal climate cooled by recent volatility on Wall Street.

The Smart Scholars Partnership Program would build on existing dual-enrollment programs, steering grant money to state and independent colleges and universities that partner with schools and other organizations to ramp up the academic performance of students identified as unlikely to graduate from high school or college and those lacking tuition money.

“This proposal reaches out to kids in high-poverty situations, giving them the support to graduate high school, but also [to] get college credits while they’re doing so,” said Jonathan Burman, a spokesman for the board of regents, which oversees education in the state...