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Dual enrolment has become a popular phenomenon in the education realm in the last one decade. Community colleges are increasingly collaborating with high schools to enable high school students undertake college-level courses while still in high school. This prepares high school students for the realities of college education and socialises them into the norms, attitudes, behaviours, and expectations of college life, in addition to reducing the time and cost of college education. However, challenges such as difficulties in credit transfer, little or no confidence in dual credit courses on the part of colleges and faculty members, lack of a strong policy framework, and ensuring equitable participation abound. These are concerns that college administrators must handle if dual enrolment is to be more successful. It is particularly important for the leaders of community colleges to adjust structures, processes, and practices at their institutions if the fairly new collaboration between secondary and postsecondary education is to yield the desired outcomes.
Introduction
Community colleges have historically played a significant role in expanding access to higher education in the U.S. In the past one decade or so, the colleges have sought to increase access to post-secondary education even more by partnering with secondary schools to enable high school students enrol in college courses while still attending high school (An, 2015). This has resulted in what is referred to as dual enrolment (Pretlow & Patteson, 2015). Dual enrolment programs ease the transition from high school to college, which remains a major concern in education (Kanny, 2015). Secondary learning institutions have extensively been criticised for inadequately preparing students for their college careers, thereby significantly contributing to poor college outcomes (An, 2015; Karp, 2015). With dual enrolment programs, high school students are introduced to college life quite earlier, which may contribute to better outcomes at both the secondary and the post-secondary level. In spite of their benefits, dual enrolment programs present crucial challenges and concerns for community college leadership. This paper addresses these issues. The paper specifically focuses on the growth of dual enrolment, the benefits of dual enrolment, as well as challenges and implications for the leadership of community colleges.
Growth of Dual Enrolment
Dual enrolment gained prominence in the U.S. in the 1990s (An, 2015). As of 2003, there were about 1.1 million high school students participating in dual credit courses (An, 2015). The number has grown to approximately 2 million (or 11.4% of the overall high school population), an almost double increase, with community colleges being the major providers of dual credit courses (Karp, 2016). Today, virtually every community college offers some form of dual enrolment (Pretlow & Patteson, 2015). For one to be eligible for the program, they must meet certain requirements. Generally, they must be enrolled in a school in the respective state, fulfil course requirements of the college in question, not have attained a high school diploma (or its equal), and maintain a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 and above (An, 2015).
Benefits of Dual Enrolment
One of the important benefits of dual enrolment relates to the transition from secondary to higher education. Colleges throughout the U.S. have historically grappled with undesirable college outcomes such as poor college completion, in large part due to poor preparation of students at the secondary level (An, 2015). High school students go to college without adequate preparation for the requirements and complexities of college life, which may often predispose them to poor academic outcomes. Indeed, even though college enrolment rates have been on an upward trend, the rate of degree attainment has not increased proportionately. In 2011, for instance, 68% of high school graduates immediately enrolled for college after graduation, though only about 59% of these students completed their bachelor's degree programme on time (An, 2015). Cognizant of this challenge, colleges, in collaboration with high schools, have increasingly advocated for the exposure of high school students to college learning experiences through initiatives such as dual enrolment.
Dual enrolment introduces high school students to challenging academic experiences while still in high school, consequently easing the transition from high school to college and raising the rate of college attendance (Pretlow & Patteson, 2015; Karp, 2015). When high school students participate in dual credit courses, they are better placed to meet the more complex requirements of college coursework, curriculum, and assessments. For instance, college courses demand greater critical thinking, analytical, research, problem solving, organisational, and time management skills. These skills are important for tackling the more challenging content and assignments.
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Exposure to college-level experiences at the high school level can be crucial for building these skills.
Exposure to college experiences at the high school level can have an even more important impact on college outcomes. A study that utilised data from the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education, a longitudinal survey of first-year college students, found that dual enrolment was positively associated with GPA during the first year of college (An, 2015). The study particularly found that students who were dually enrolled were more academically engaged and motivated than those who were not. Dual enrolment enables students to undertake and enjoy challenging courses, be more engaged in learning, as well as take part in activities and practices that contribute positively towards their academic outcomes such as collaborative learning and student-faculty contact. Nonetheless, this does not necessarily imply that dual enrolees do not encounter difficulties in their college learning. Instead, even though college is generally overwhelming for most students, dual enrolment may give one the advantage of perseverance (Kanny, 2015). It gives participants more hardiness for transitioning into college and surviving the associated pressures. This is why Karp (2015, p. 105) describes dual enrolment as "a powerful college completion strategy."
Due to better academic performance, dual enrolees are less likely to undertake remedial courses during college education compared to the typical college student (An, 2015). This means that participating in dual enrolment may reduce the incidence of college dropout and increase college graduation rates. As put by Karp (2016), participants of dual enrolment programs tend to have the academic momentum needed to complete college education as they are more likely to score better grades once in college. In essence, dual enrolment may be important for college success in terms of not only GPA, but also persistence and degree completion.
Whereas dual enrolment may have a positive impact on academic performance at the college level, it is important to acknowledge that little research has been conducted in this area. Indeed, dual enrolment is a fairly recent phenomenon. More scholarly attention is required to determine if dual enrolment actually improves academic performance. Furthermore, as shown by An's (2015) study, dual enrolment was found to be positively associated with academic performance only during the first year of college. It is quite unclear whether dual enrolment participants would remain academically engaged and motivated throughout their entire college life. More importantly, academic performance and educational attainment in general are predicted by a combination of multiple factors such as demographic characteristics, cognitive factors, and teaching methods, and not necessarily dual enrolment.
The benefits of dual enrolment can as well be viewed from the perspective of socialisation. Becoming a college student may not be as straightforward as often thought. It is a process that may require more than just academic preparation. Generally, certain attitudes and behaviours are vital for managing constantly occurring situations during college education. These attitudes and behaviours are best learned via experiences. Dual enrolment provides an ideal opportunity for socialising high school students into college life (An, 2015). It offers a transitional episode during which students learn the norms, attitudes, and behaviours associated with college life, ultimately making the process of navigating the college system easier (Karp, 2015). Therefore, dual enrolees may be better placed to meet the expectations of the college environment compared to typical college enrolees. Indeed, dual enrolment facilitates the development of both academic and non-academic skills.
Dual enrolment can also reduce the time and costs associated with college education. College education remains a time consuming and costly undertaking for most students. Indeed, one of the factors that have negatively affected college enrolment rates is cost. The cost of college education has soared significantly over the years, making it quite unaffordable to most low-income populations (Karp, 2016). This challenge is further compounded by the length of college degrees. Since credits earned from dual enrolment can be transferred to college, students can spend less time and costs on college education, making college education attainable for more high school graduates. Dual enrolment can save families hundreds or thousands of dollars in college fees (Karp, 2015). Dual credit courses can as well earn students up to 2 years of postsecondary credits prior to joining college (Ferguson, Baker & Burnett, 2015). Indeed, dual enrolment offers a valuable way of saving money as well as completing college education faster. However, this.....
An, B. (2015). The role of academic motivation and engagement on the relationship between dual enrolment and academic performance. The Journal of Higher Education, 86(1), 99-126.
Ferguson, C., Baker, P., & Burnett, D. (2015). Faculty members' perceptions of rigour in dual enrolment, accelerated programs, and standard community college courses. New Directions for Community Colleges, 169, 83-91.
Kanny, A. (2015). Dual enrolment participation from the student perspective. New Directions for Community Colleges, 169, 59-70.
Karp, M. (2015). Dual enrolment, structural reform, and the completion agenda. New Directions for Community Colleges, 169, 103-111.
Karp, M. (2016). Pitches for dual enrolment raise questions for some. Education Week, 36(3), 11-13.
Pretlow, J., & Patteson, J. (2015). Operating dual enrolment in different policy environments: an examination of two states. New Directions for Community Colleges, 169, 21-29.
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