Dual Enrollment Widely Available

 

A report from The American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) and Hobsons discusses dual enrollment. For the purpose of this report dual enrollment refers to the following:

• Any course or program offered for high school students to earn college credit through a postsecondary institution.
  
• Credit for courses or the program may be earned at both the high school and college level simultaneously or only at the college level.
  
• Credit may be earned immediately upon completion of individual courses, upon completion of the program, or upon enrollment after high school graduation.
  

• Courses and programs may be taught on a college campus, on a high school campus, at some other location, or through distance education.
  
• International Baccalaureate (IB) programs and Advanced Placement (AP) courses are considered to be part of the DE portfolio for some institutions, because these are other avenues for high school students to earn college credit. We included a few questions about these options.
  

Key Findings

• Fifty-nine percent have incorported dual enrollment as a strategic enrollment initiative.
  
• Dual enrollment serves multiple purposes for many institutions. For more than 75 percent of the repondents, dual enrollment serves as a recruiting tool, closely following by helping meet the mission of the institution, or as a community service mechanism.
  
• Dual enrollment is widely available and accepted at higher education institutions in the United States. During the 2015-2016 academic year, most (78 percent) institutions in this sample offered dual enrollment options.
  
• Eighty-six percent accept dual enrollment credit in transfer.
  
• Lower division only, and/or large and/or public institutions are more likely to offer dual enrollment programs and courses than institutions with other characteristics.
  
• Private institutions are less likely than public institutions to accept dual enrollment credit in transfer.
  
• Nine out of 10 “agree” or “strongly agree” that dual enrollment courses improve access to college courses.
  
• The percentage of institutions awarding certificates and associate’s degrees to high school students has increased since the IES study.
  
• One-quarter of participating institutions awarded at least one associate’s degree to high school students during the 2015-2016 academic year.
  
• Fifty-eight percent discounted tuition for dual enrollment, and two-thirds of those do so by more than 50 percent.
  
• Among those that do not offer dual enrollment, institutional culture is the most cited reason for not doing so.
  
• Nearly all (93 percent) accept AP and/or IB credits