National analysis of dual enrollment data largely positive, with room for improvement in access

Dual enrollment college courses are now offered at 90 percent of public high schools across the country, with nearly 2.5 million high school students taking advantage of the opportunity to get a jumpstart on their higher education. While these students tend to have higher rates of college-going and completion relative to students who don’t participate in dual enrollment, outcomes vary greatly across and within states, with gaps in access and success for low-income, Black, and Hispanic students, according to a recent report from the Community College Research Center (CCRC) at Teachers College, Columbia University.

“Dual enrollment is a strong on-ramp to increase college enrollment and completion for all students, especially for low-income, Black and Hispanic students, but there is a lot of room for improvement,” said Tatiana Velasco, a senior research associate at CCRC and the report’s lead author. “Given the large variation in policies and practices in dual enrollment, college and K-12 leaders should use the evidence in this report to assess and plan strategies to strengthen equitable access and success for all students.”

Using National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) data, the report provides national and state-by-state findings on the postsecondary enrollment and completion outcomes of high school students who began taking dual enrollment college courses in fall 2015, tracked up to four years after high school.

Researchers developed the report and an accompanying data dashboard to better allow states to assess whether their policies and practices are maximizing the potential of dual enrollment for their students.

Among the findings for all dual enrollment students, the report found that:

  • Nearly 40 percent of new undergraduates overall and 60 percent of new community college students in fall 2015 were either current or former dual enrollment students.
  • Eighty-one percent of dual enrollment students went to college in the first year after high school, compared to about 70 percent of students overall. Of those, 51 percent went to four-year institutions, and nearly a third to community colleges.
  • Dual enrollment students who enrolled in college in the first year after high school completed college credentials at higher rates than students who entered college immediately after high school without dual enrollment. This holds across 41 states, with double-digit higher rates in 16 of those states.
  • Thirty-one percent of dual enrollment students were still enrolled in college and making progress toward a credential within four years of completing high school.

Such positive findings were only hampered by findings that low-income, Black and Hispanic students were underrepresented in dual enrollment, and their postsecondary award completion rates were lower compared to other dual enrollees (although dual enrollment students from these groups still had better outcomes than students who did not participate in dual enrollment).

The report noted that while 36 percent of all dual enrollment students who enrolled in college within the first year after high school completed a bachelor’s in four-years, the same was true for only 28 percent of low-income, 29 percent of Black, and 25 percent of Hispanic dual enrollees. Additionally, in some states where these groups were better represented in dual enrollment, they also tended to show weaker college-going and completion outcomes, suggesting that there is a tension between increasing equitable access to dual enrollment and ensuring student success.

As dual enrollment was originally designed to provide accelerated courses to high-performing high school students, researchers noted that many districts still limit access, creating obstacles to the college acceleration that dual enrollment can provide. Researchers identified some key implications for policy and practice going forward. Among them:

  1. To fully realize the potential of dual enrollment, high-quality opportunities need to be accessible for more students.
  2. Colleges and states need to provide better supports to help students complete more dual enrollment courses to make a real difference in jump-starting students’ college careers and address concerns about affordability.
  3. State, college and K-12 leaders should use this report, the dashboard and their own data to benchmark outcomes, set improvement targets and track progress toward broadening access to dual enrollment and helping more dual enrollment students complete college in as little time and with as little cost as possible.