PHOENIX (AP) -- A growing number of Arizona high school students are taking college-level courses through dual enrollment.

Each year, an additional 1,000 Phoenix-area juniors and seniors decide to earn college credits on their high-school campus through the Maricopa County Community College District.

The total number last year was 14,000.

Policy makers on the state and national level say it's a way to toughen up public education and entice more students to attend and complete college.

Last year, $6 million was paid to Maricopa Community Colleges from tuition through dual-enrollment courses.

Metro-Phoenix high schools reaped $3.3 million.

Dual enrollment began in the Phoenix-area in 1987 with a partnership between Maricopa Community Colleges and Phoenix's Xavier College Preparatory.

Today, 82 metro-Phoenix high schools participate with students earning dual-enrollment credits.

In 2006, Tempe Union's Desert Vista High had 893 kids taking community-college classes on its campus.

That is 30 percent of the high school's population and the most students of any Phoenix-area school.

In its contract with the Maricopa County Community College District, Desert Vista takes in about $250,000 a year.

The college district gets state funds to help run the program.

The cash from MCCCD paid for technology, lab supplies, college textbooks and teacher training.

Last summer, it helped pay for an eight-week math camp for neighborhood middle-school students, Desert Vista Principal Anna Battle said.

Desert Vista does not push dual enrollment simply for the financial gain, Battle said, but the money helps upgrade technology and teacher skills.

Next school year, Paradise Valley High School will use part of its dual-enrollment money to give all students a 25 percent discount on tuition costs.

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Information from: The Arizona Republic, http://www.azcentral.com

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