Dual Enrollment Blends High School, College, And Workforce Education And Training

The way America prepares young people for work and life is being disrupted. Clear-cut institutional boundaries that historically separated the programs and responsibilities of high schools, colleges, and employers are now permeable boundaries.

One well-known example of these permeable boundaries is earn-and-learn apprenticeships for young people. These apprenticeships combine a job that pays with adult mentorship and related classroom instruction provided by a high school or other education and training institution. On the other hand, high school dual enrollment programs are a below-the-radar example of this disruption of institutional boundaries.

This disruption poses huge challenges for schools, colleges, and employers. But Americans have risen to this challenge before.

Today’s efforts to create a new education and training system for young people resemble the creation of the high school movement of the early 20^th century. That movement produced a “spectacular educational transformation,” according to Harvard economists Claudia Goldin and Lawrence Katz. They document how disruptions between 1910 and 1940 upended the nation’s then-existing education and training system.

The disruptions included urbanization and advanced industrialization which created new jobs that Americans weren’t prepared to do. The high school movement was a response to the soaring demand for a supply of educated workers to staff new white-collar jobs. Enrollment of 18-year-olds grew from 19% to 71% while graduation rates rose from 9% to more than 50%. This boosted the U.S. to the forefront of educational achievement in the world.

High Schoolers In College

Dual enrollment programs typically allow high school students to take college-level specialized courses like career and technical education or CTE courses from a two- or four-year post-secondary institution. These programs are different from approaches like Advanced Placement exams, International Baccalaureate, and early college high schools.

Students earn high school and college credit simultaneously, often lowering tuition payments for a credential or degree. Currently, 48 states and the District of Columbia have dual enrollment programs.

College faculty teach these courses on the campus of a two- or four-year college or at a high school. Qualified high school teachers also teach courses at a high school. Most dual enrollment students take their college courses at their own high school.

Instruction is provided in-person, online, or using a combination of approaches. For example, Arizona State University’s Accelerate ASU is a national online dual enrollment program serving more than 10,000 students in over 350 high schools. Courses are provided in three ways:

• Facilitated: a teacher guides students through courses integrated into a master schedule.
• Supervised: an academic coach or teacher monitors students’ progress as they complete courses at their own pace.
• Individual: students take courses outside of school on their own time and schedule.

Courses are funded in different ways across and within states. One report calculates that dual enrollment revenues for a typical community college cover only 72% to 85% of the costs. There are ways to break even, especially through economies of scale. Another analysis estimates that across the nation, $1 billion a year in public funds is being spent on dual enrollment.

During the 2022-2023 academic year, nine out of 10 U.S. high schools offered college courses for nearly 2.5 million high school students. That involves one out of three high school students enrolled in college taking at least one college-level dual enrollment course.

Community colleges enroll the majority of dual enrollment students, reaching 1.78 million students, or 21% of community college enrollment. Put another way, 1 out of 5 community college students is a high school student. This is the below-the-radar upheaval blurring the institutional boundaries between high schools, colleges, and employers who often partner with high schools and colleges in these programs.

Successes

A recent report from the Community College Research Center provides the first national and state-by-state results on the success of dual enrollment students by demographic characteristics, including income and gender. These students began taking dual enrollment courses in the fall of 2015 and were tracked for four years after high school.

Dual enrollment is associated with improving student outcomes. For example, 81% of dual enrollment students went to college in the first year after high school compared to about 70% of students overall. Those dual enrollment students who entered 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.

Finally, the completion rates of low-income, Black, and Hispanic students were lower compared to other students. But students from these groups participating in dual enrollment had better outcomes than similar students who did not participate in dual enrollment.

The Equity Dilemma

There are gaps in dual enrollment based on school and demographic characteristics. For example, high-poverty, urban, small, and specialized high schools are less likely to offer dual enrollment courses. Moreover, Black and Hispanic students are underrepresented in dual enrollment programs, Finally, students of parents with lower levels of educational attainment have lower levels of participation in dual enrollment.

On the other hand, there are benefits from dual enrollment for these students, though the reasons for these benefits are not well understood. For example, among Black students who enrolled in college immediately after high school, 29% of those who earned dual enrollment credits completed a bachelor’s degree within four years, compared to only 18% of those without dual enrollment credits.

Among Hispanic students, 25% of those with dual enrollment credits earned a bachelor’s degree within four years compared to 19% of Hispanic college students without dual enrollment credits. Dual enrollment was also helpful for college students from low-income neighborhoods as 28% earned a bachelor’s degree within four years compared with 20% without dual enrollment.

Efforts are underway to expand access to dual enrollment programs for underrepresented groups. For example, policy recommendations and programs are being proposed by organizations that include the Community College Research Center, the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program, Jobs for the Future, and New America.

The Credential Dilemma

ExcelinEd and Burning Glass Technologies studied 30 states that collect information on the alignment between the credentials that K-12 students earn and the demand for those credentials in the workforce. That analysis found that only 18% of credentials earned by K-12 students are in demand by employers. So many students who take dual enrollment courses and earn credentials find that these credentials carry little weight with employers.

It’s not enough, then, for students to take dual enrollment, college-level courses. They also must be able to apply those courses toward an occupational or college credential that has value in the workforce. Analysts call this dilemma “random acts of dual enrollment.” Examples of courses that fall into this category include basic math, English, and introductory psychology.

States and localities are working with employers to align dual enrollment courses with workforce credentials that are in demand. These approaches to dual enrollment often include work-based learning, especially internships and earn-and-learn apprenticeships; student support and career exploration and navigation services; and sequenced courses that create structured and accelerated pathways programs that build on each other and lead to industry-recognized credentials and good jobs.

For example, all these features are part of Apprenticeship Carolina, the host organization for South Carolina’s youth apprenticeship programs. Its flagship offering is the Charleston Regional Youth Apprenticeship Program which works with Trident Technical College whose job it is to recruit and support local employers and K-12 school districts. This program offers 21 different career pathways and works with more than 180 companies to hire school-age apprentices.

Pathways To Opportunity

Today’s new education and training movement using approaches like work-based learning and dual enrollment is blurring the institutional boundaries between high school, post high school education and training, and employers. It includes creating career pathways frameworks and other programs that advance equality of opportunity. The goal of this movement is to ensure that young people develop the building blocks of opportunity: knowledge—what individuals know, relationships—whom they know; and identity—who they are.

These building blocks allow young people to acquire knowledge that is profitable, relationships that are priceless, and a vocation that elevates their self-worth. In short: Knowledge + Relationships + Identity = Opportunity. This approach fosters opportunity pluralism, promoting multiple pathways to jobs, careers, and human flourishing.