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More than 40 percent of high school students who earned college credit as part of dual-enrollment programs went on to earn a degree or certificate within four years of graduation, according to new national data.
But men who graduated high school with dual credit were about a third as likely as their female peers to earn a college degree within four years, according to the study, released Oct. 15 by the Community College Research Center at Teachers College, Columbia University.
The results suggest that dual credit programs may not do much to close broader gender gaps in college-going and completion, in which men trail women. And while earning college credit does give a boost to some students of color, states vary widely in their access to dual enrollment and the alignment of high school courses with the kinds of credits students need to complete college degrees.
The study tracked high school students who began taking dual-credit courses in high school from an institution of higher education in the fall of 2015 up to four years after graduating high school. (About 80 percent of students who earn college credit in high school do so through a college or university, but the study does not include data on students who earned credit through an independent national program, such as Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate, or those who did not participate in dual credit at all.)
About 1 in 10 students who took dual credit in high school never enrolled in higher education; boys were a third more likely than girls to forego college entirely.
While community colleges account for more than 70 percent of all dual-credit programs in high schools, the study found that high school graduates who went on to attend community colleges were significantly less likely to earn a bachelor’s degree within four years than those who attended four-year universities, 29 percent versus 47 percent.
Tatiana Velasco, a senior research associate and lead author at the Community College Research Center, urged district leaders to consider what kinds of dual credit courses their schools offer. Prior research suggests many high school credits do not end up counting toward students’ degree programs, dragging out the time it takes them to complete college.
“What are the dual enrollment courses offered to these students that are making this harder for them, and what are the supports that they get to plan their career and transfer those courses toward a degree?” Velasco said.
Students of color also tended to have less access to college credit in high school, but the study found Black students in particular benefitted strongly from participating. Black students who graduated high school with dual credit were likelier than average to enroll at a four-year college, to attend a selective college, and to complete a bachelor’s degree in a science, technology, engineering, or math field.
“What we do get to see is that these Black students tend to be very underrepresented in dual enrollment participation, which is suggesting to us how stringent the barriers to dual enrollment are for this specific group of students,” Velasco said. “In general, it seems that for those [Black] students who are able to jump the hurdle of access to dual enrollment, they do really well.”
The study was also the first to provide disaggregated data on how dual-credit students achieve in higher education across different states.
Dual-enrollment programs funneled significantly more students to college in some states than others. Velasco noted that Florida and Texas, for example, have invested in expanding dual-credit teacher support and partnerships between colleges and school districts.
“Basically, the extent to which states work with postsecondary institutions and high school institutions to provide funding opportunities that really enable students to take this dual-enrollment coursework makes a difference,” Velasco said.