Hello colleagues,
This spring we shared a deck covering what we’d learned so far about dual enrollment. We knew that dual enrollment was booming, and we knew that, when done well, it has the potential to accelerate students into college.
Now we know even more, thanks to the Community College Research Center. Last month they released a new report: “The Postsecondary Outcomes of High School Dual Enrollment Students A National and State-by-State Analysis.” Here’s what stood out to me:
- Momentum - Across the nation, around 70% of high school grads head to college in the first year after high school. For students who participated in dual enrollment, that stat jumps to 81%.
- Enrollment - Community colleges have been providing the vast majority of dual enrollment, and that seems to be paying off. More than a third of students who take dual enrollment courses at community college return for at least one term to the same college in the first year after high school.
- And the impact on enrollment extends beyond community colleges: Additional research published by Brown University also showed that each additional DE credit attempted in grades 11 or 12 led to a significant ~7 percentage point (pp) increase in the likelihood of applying to at least one highly selective four-year college. (And a ~4pp boost to the likelihood of being admitted.)
- Completion - Nationally, dual enrollment students are two percentage points more likely to complete a bachelor’s than non-dual enrollment students, and this difference is larger for low-income (+8pp), Hispanic (+7pp), and Black (+11pp) students. That’s huge.
- Equity - Unfortunately, low-income, Black, and Hispanic students are underrepresented in dual enrollment nationally and nearly every state.
These findings are based on data about high school students who began taking dual enrollment college courses in the fall 2015 and their outcomes for four years after high school graduation. This analysis does not account for characteristics like academic achievement, and seeing as dual enrollment programs often attract students who are already college-bound (check out CCRC’s DEEP research on how to shift away from “programs of privilege”) it may not seem revelatory that dual enrollment students see these positive outcomes. But these findings echo other experimental studies that do take into account students’ backgrounds, confirming that dual enrollment is a powerful tool and that more work is needed to make sure all students can use it as a boost into college.
To complement that quantitative work, some qualitative: CCRC’s researcher Aurely Garcia Tulloch, a former dual enrollment (and “stealth transfer”) student herself, interviewed 97 predominantly Black, Hispanic, and low-income dual enrollment students to find out what they want:
- Earlier access to information: Students need to hear about dual enrollment opportunities as early as middle school to make solid plans.
- Empowering advisors: Students need well-informed advisors who support their specific academic and career goals and don’t unnecessarily discourage them from taking challenging courses.
- Connection with career goals: Students want courses that directly connect to their intended college majors and future careers.
- Engaging online learning: Students in online settings crave more interactive and engaging experiences.
- Balance: Students need help managing the dual enrollment workload alongside their regular high school commitments.
- Financial aid intel: Students want clearer information on how to secure scholarships and manage college costs after high school.
These needs couldn’t be clearer. They offer excellent directions for how educators and leaders can start to make sure that all students can get that dual enrollment boost into college success.
I want to extend my gratitude to the minds behind this research for their thorough and insightful work. These findings are our dual enrollment roadmap
Patrick Methvin
Director of Education, Pathways and Postsecondary Success Strategies
“I challenge educators to read the CCRC report, talk with their students, prioritize what they learn, and help dual enrollment get even better.”
- Florida dual enrollment student Teairra-Marie Dig in here.
What we’re reading:
- In Texas, students can now go online and enter their class rank, grade point average, and standardized test scores to get a list of public universities they’d be admitted to.
- The 74 interviewed the authors of a new book about the broken community college transfer system—and included some ideas for how to fix it.
- An interesting take on the value of CTE as a way to expose young people to options, from Michael Horn at Education Next.
- Inside Higher Ed wrote about an LA initiative focused on building better dual enrollment pathways.