How Does Dual Enrollment Affect Students’ Chances of Earning a College Degree?

The fact that students with dual enrollment credits perform better than students without dual enrollment credits is not very misleading. To qualify for classes, students usually need to do well on a test, get high grades or be on the advanced or honors track at school. These high-achieving students could have graduated from college at much higher rates without any dual enrollment courses.

“Are we supporting students who have always been going to college?” asked Kristen Hengtgen, a policy analyst at EdTrust, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization that advocates for racial and economic equity in education. “Would we be spending time, energy, and energy in a different way than high-level teachers or something else?” I think that’s a really important question.”

Hengtgen was not involved in the latest analysis, but is concerned about the underrepresentation of black and Hispanic students highlighted in the report. The data dashboard accompanying the new report documents that only 9 percent of high school students in dual enrollment classes are Black, while Black students make up 16 percent of high school students. Only 17 percent of dual enrollment students were Hispanic at a time when Hispanic students made up nearly a quarter of the high school population. White students, in contrast, took 65 percent of dual enrollment seats but represented only half of the high school population. Asian students are the only group that participates in dual enrollment similar to their share of the student population: 5 percent each.

Advocates of dual enrollment have made the argument that an early taste of college can encourage students to attend college, and the fact that fewer Black and Hispanic students are enrolling is perhaps the most troubling sign that greater public and private investment is needed. in education is not accomplishing one of its primary goals: increasing the college-educated workforce.

EdTrust’s Hengtgen says black, Hispanic and low-income students of all races need better high school counseling to help them enroll in classes. Sometimes, he said, students don’t know they have to have a required class in 10th grade to qualify for a dual enrollment class in 11th grade, and by the time they find out, it’s too late. Cost is another barrier. Depending on the country and region, the family may have to pay a fee to take the classes. Although these fees are much cheaper than what college students pay per course, low-income families may not be able to afford them.

Tatiana Velasco, an economist at CCRC and lead author of the October 2024 dual enrollment report, makes the argument that dual enrollment may be more beneficial to Black and Hispanic students and low-income students of all races and ethnicities. In his analysis of the data, he noted that dual enrollment credits provided only modest improvements to students as a whole, but significant improvements to other demographic groups.

Of all high school students who enrolled in college immediately after high school, 36 percent of those with dual enrollment credits graduated within four years compared to 34 percent without any dual enrollment credits. Arguably, dual enrollment credits don’t make much of a difference in completion time, on average.

However, Velasco found the biggest gains in dual enrollment when he disaggregated the data by race and income. Among only Black students who enrolled in college immediately, 29 percent of those with dual enrollment credits completed a bachelor’s degree within four years, compared to only 18 percent of those without dual enrollment credits. That’s more than 50 percent of college graduates. “The difference is huge,” Velasco said.

Among Hispanic students who go directly to college, 25 percent of those with dual enrollment credits earn a bachelor’s degree within four years. Only 19 percent of Hispanic college students without dual enrollment credits did. Dual enrollment also proved especially helpful for college students from low-income neighborhoods; 28 percent of them earned a bachelor’s degree within four years compared to only 20 percent without dual enrollment.

Again, it is unclear whether dual enrollment is driving this difference. It is possible that Black students who chose to take dual enrollment classes were already more motivated and successful and would still have graduated from college at much higher rates. (Notably, black students with two enrollment credits are more likely to attend selective four-year institutions.)

There are wide variations across the country in how dual enrollment works in high schools. In many cases, high school students never set foot in college. The class is usually taught by a high school teacher in a high school classroom. Sometimes community colleges provide tutors. English composition and college algebra are popular offerings. Courses are often designed and credits are awarded at a local community college, although 30 percent of dual enrollment credits are awarded at four-year institutions.

A few more excerpts from the CCRC and National Student Clearinghouse report:

• States with the highest college graduation rates in their dual enrollment systems, such as Delaware, Georgia, Mississippi and New Jersey, tend to serve fewer Black, Hispanic and low-income students. Florida stood out as an exception. CCRC’s Velasco noted that it has strong college graduation rates while serving a high proportion of Hispanic students.
• In Iowa, Texas and Washington, half of all dual enrollment students end up attending the college that gave them their dual enrollment credits.
• In Montana, New Hampshire, Ohio, and Wisconsin, dual enrollment students have become a major source of future students at community colleges. (A separate cost study shows that some community colleges offer dual enrollment courses at a nearby high school at a loss, but if these students later graduate, their future tuition dollars can cover that loss.)

And that is perhaps the most troubling unintended consequence of the explosion of dual enrollment credits. Many outstanding high school students accumulate three, four or even five college credits and feel pressured to use these credits by enrolling in a community college affiliated with their high school. That may seem like a reasonable decision. It is iffy that these dual enrollment credits can be transferred to another school, or, more importantly, counted toward the student’s primary needs, which is what really matters and prevents students from graduating on time.

But most of these students can get into their state’s flagship or highly selective private college with scholarships. And they will get better. Dual-enrollment students who started at a community college, the report found, were significantly less likely than those enrolled at a four-year institution to complete their degree four years after high school.