Abstract
This study investigated the dual enrollment outcomes associated with a 2005 policy change intended to expand dual enrollment participation in Virginia. Results indicated that overall access to and participation in dual enrollment courses increased following the policy change. However, data showed this increase was not uniform, and minority groups remained significantly underrepresented when compared with their representation in the general student population. Furthermore, we examined the changes in postsecondary enrollment of dual enrollment students. Although a similar percentage of students enrolled in higher education before and after the policy change, we found variation in the timing and the type of institution in which students enrolled, with students after the policy change enrolling in 4-year institutions sooner after high school graduation than students in the cohort prior to the change. Implications related to educational opportunity and unintended consequences of the policy change are discussed.
Increasing both the college-going and college persistence rates of students are enduring concerns in higher education (Hoffman, 2005). These markers of student success have assumed added importance as America’s continued economic competitiveness depends increasingly on a highly skilled labor force in which individuals possess a 2- or 4-year degree (Hoffman, Vargas, Venezia, & Miller, 2007; Kirst & Bracco, 2004). Economists predict that demand for jobs that require a college degree will increase while demand for all other jobs will decrease (Hoffman et al., 2007). These predictions have not been lost on policymakers at either the state or national level. President Obama challenged higher education to produce, not just enroll, an additional five million graduates by 2020 for America to once again have “the highest proportion of college graduates in the world” (“Remarks of President Barack Obama in the Address to the Joint Session of Congress,” 2009, n.p.). At the state level, many governors, including Governor McDonnell of Virginia, are making an increase in the degree attainment of citizens a statewide priority. Governor McDonnell formed a Commission on Higher Education Reform, Innovation, and Investment to investigate current practices and “develop a comprehensive strategy for increased educational attainment” (Grow by Degrees Coalition, 2010, p. 2).
One potential strategy for improving the postsecondary success rates of students is dual enrollment programs, which are designed to allow high school students the opportunity to enroll in college-level courses for credit that can be applied simultaneously toward their high school and college degree requirements (Barnett & Stamm, 2010; Hoffman, 2005). Dual enrollment is touted as having three main benefits: easing the college transition process, motivating students to take more rigorous coursework while in high school, and increasing college retention rates (Hoffman, 2005; Karp & Hughes, 2008). In addition, proponents of dual enrollment programs argue that participation can significantly lower the cost of a college degree by reducing time to degree (Hoffman, 2005). Reducing the cost of college is particularly attractive to fiscally strapped students, families, and state governments. While dual enrollment programs vary in structure and scope, currently 46 states have some form of dual enrollment policy in place (Education Commission of the States, 2008). Though the figures vary by state, a majority of dual enrollment students nationally are enrolled through community colleges (NationalCenter for Education Statistics [NCES], 2013). Furthermore, 96% of public 2-year institutions enrolled high school students in college-level courses within a dual enrollment program in the academic year 2010-2011 (NCES, 2013). Thus, community colleges are intimately connected to dual enrollment programs.
Dual Enrollment in Virginia
Sometimes called dual-credit, credit-based, or concurrent enrollment, for the purposes of this study in the commonwealth of Virginia, dual enrollment is defined as any program that “allows high school students to meet the requirements for high school graduation while simultaneously earning college credit” (Virginia Plan for Dual Enrollment [VPDE], 2008, p. 1). The first VPDE was implemented in 1988, and was devised by a Task Force on Dual Enrollment, consisting of representatives from both the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) and The Virginia Department of Education. As originally written, the VPDE permitted only high school juniors and seniors to earn college-level credit through the community college while still enrolled in high school. Those credits could then be applied either toward an associate’s degree at a Virginia community college or a baccalaureate degree at a public 4-year institution (Catron, 1998; Wallace, 2006). The plan was subsequently amended in 2005 when then Governor Mark Warner began to strongly advocate for a more efficient use of the high school senior year as a way to increase college enrollment and attainment (Warner, 2004). The expansion of dual enrollment programs to both a greater number of participating high schools and students was promoted as a way to achieve this end and guided the changes of the 2005 amended agreement. These changes included two provisions: (1) high schools must inform all students of dual enrollment opportunities and (2) selected freshmen and sophomores were eligible to participate (VPDE, 2005).
To date, there has been no evaluation of how, if at all, the 2005 policy change affected student participation in dual enrollment and higher education in the commonwealth of Virginia. Furthermore, though designed to provide access to all Virginians, it is not clear if this policy shift resulted in a disparate impact and actually contributed to the stratification of educational opportunity in the commonwealth. Thus, we address the following questions with respect to Virginia dual enrollment policy:
Did the 2005 policy change affect access to dual enrollment courses as measured by the number of participating high schools?
Did the 2005 policy change affect participation in dual enrollment courses as measured by the number of participating high school seniors?
Did the 2005 policy change affect the participation of certain subgroups of students as measured by students’ gender and racial/ethnic minority status?
Did the 2005 policy change affect the college enrollment of dual enrollment students at 2- or 4-year institutions?
Prior Research
Despite their prevalence and the increased attention being paid to dual enrollment programs as a strategy to help students transition into higher education, there is no agreed upon and fully developed conceptual model that undergirds research on dual enrollment. A recent study by Karp and Hughes (2008), which consisted of five in-depth qualitative case studies of credit-based transition programs, revealed that the prevailing theory undergirding such programs is potentially flawed. The generally accepted model characterizing the influence of dual enrollment programs posits that college-level coursework prompts high school students to have increased motivation, while gaining academic and social or procedural skills, thus leading to increased college attendance and persistence. The researchers concluded, however, that such a linear presentation was unlikely. In fact, many factors influenced the effectiveness of the programs and, further, certain factors—such as preexisting motivation on the part of the student—may well determine their ultimate college success, a factor wholly independent of dual enrollment options (Karp & Hughes, 2008).
In addition to the lack of theory, few evidence-based studies exist to illustrate whether dual enrollment programs actually succeed in meeting their stated goals (Barnett & Stamm, 2010; Karp & Hughes, 2008). A recent regression discontinuity study by Speroni (2011b) utilized Florida’s statewide longitudinal data and found no evidence that simply taking a dual enrollment course improved students’ rates of high school graduation, college enrollment, or college degree attainment. However, Speroni (2011a) found large and significant effects on college enrollment and graduation rates for students taking a dual enrollment algebra course. Similarly, using regression analysis, Karp, Calcagno, Hughes, Jeong, and Bailey (2008) found that high school students enrolled in dual enrollment courses experienced positive postsecondary outcomes when compared with similar students who did not participate in dual enrollment. Specifically, dual enrolled students were more likely to enroll in postsecondary education, persist to both the second semester and second year, and earn more college-level credits by the end of their third year in college than their non-dual enrolled counterparts. Especially promising and relevant to this study, the benefits of dual enrollment were not distributed equally. Rather, male, low-income, and students with lower grade-point averages (GPAs) benefited from dual enrollment to a greater extent than did other subgroups of students (Karp et al., 2008).
D’Amico, Morgan, Robertson, and Rivers (2013) utilized a sample of South Carolina high school students who took a dual enrolled course and subsequently enrolled in an institution in the South Carolina Technical College System. Using regression analysis, the authors identified one positive and two negative factors associated with persistence to the second year at a South CarolinaTechnicalCollege. Students who took a dual enrolled course located on a college campus had higher persistence rates while African Americans and those students taking a transfer course had significantly lower persistence rates.
Although the research on dual enrollment is improving, it is limited by its almost exclusive reliance on data from the state of Florida (Karp et al., 2008; Speroni, 2011a, 2011b). Though beneficial, Florida’s dual enrollment guidelines only permit high school students who have an unweighted high school GPA of 3.0 or higher to participate in dual enrollment (“Florida Statute 1007.271,” 2007). Thus, the modest to no effect of Florida’s dual enrollment program presented above is not that surprising. Comparing high achieving students who do and do not take dual enrollment and expecting participation to make a difference in high school graduation and postsecondary outcomes is perhaps unrealistic. Virginia, along with many other states, does not have a GPA requirement to participate. To be eligible in Virginia, students must be deemed “amply prepared for the demands of a college-level course” and “the community college must accept the high school student for admission to the college-level course” (VPDE, 2005, pp. 1-2). This is operationalized as a student earning a satisfactory score on the community college placement test so that the student places into the college-level course in the subject in which he or she will be dually enrolled, regardless of high school GPA.
Thus, this study evaluates a dual enrollment policy and program that is open to both a greater number and a more diverse group of students. Given previous results that preexisting student attributes may be driving dual enrollment outcomes (Karp & Hughes, 2008) and that dual enrollment may help underrepresented and middle achieving students successfully transition to higher education (Barnett & Stamm, 2010; Karp et al., 2008), an evaluation of a dual enrollment program open to a larger and a more diverse group of students is justified. With its more inclusive participation guidelines, Virginia’s program provides a particularly useful state-level policy case study.
Data Sources and Methods
The data for this study were collected by the VCCS, and the file consists of course-level information for students who enrolled in a minimum of one dual enrolled course as a high school senior and who graduated high school in the spring of 2004, 2005, or 2006. Information on these students includes all dual enrollment courses attempted and earned during their 4 years of high school, self-reported race/ethnicity, high school attended, and the VCCS institution through which the dual enrollment credits were awarded. For the students who enrolled in a VCCS institution on high school graduation, the data contain all subsequent courses attempted and completed. For students who enrolled in a 4-year institution on high school graduation, the VCCS contracted with the National Student Clearinghouse (NSCH) to locate these students. The information from the NSCH was merged into the VCCS files and although it does not provide transcript and course-taking records, it does provide data on college enrollment and degrees earned. All students were longitudinally tracked through the spring 2010 semester. Thus, there are 6 years of postsecondary data on students who graduated high school in the spring of 2004 and 4 years for students who graduated high school in the spring of 2006.
Methods
The cohorts under investigation, high school graduates in the spring of 2004 and 2006, allow for comparisons before and after the dual enrollment policy change in 2005. This study provides descriptive information relative to the 2004 cohort to serve as the base year for comparison. Data from the 2006 cohort are used to determine if the policy change spearheaded by then Governor Warner is associated with any changes in outcomes on dual enrollment access, participation, and postsecondary enrollment. Though not able to causally evaluate the policy change on dual enrollment in Virginia, this study does add to the limited existing literature on dual enrollment. By providing strong descriptive evidence on dual enrollment in Virginia, we lay the foundation for future, more rigorous studies on this important topic.
Findings
Results from this investigation paint a mixed picture of success. Access to dual enrollment, measured by the number of high schools offering courses, increased. Student participation in dual enrollment courses also increased; however, these gains were not evenly distributed across subgroups of students. The timing of postsecondary enrollment at 2- and 4-year institutions also differed, though the overall matriculation rate remained identical.
Access to Dual Enrollment
Participation in dual enrollment by Virginia high schools increased in the years from 2004 to 2006. For students graduating in the spring of 2004, 339 high schools offered a minimum of one dual enrolled course. By 2006, that number rose by 15%, to 391 high schools. This figure includes both public and private high schools as either can offer dual enrollment in partnership with their local community college (VPDE, 2005, 2008). Private high schools’ participation rate increased 21.5%, from 93 to 113 participating high schools. Public high schools’ participation rate increased 13%, from 246 to 278. Measured as a percentage of total Virginia public high schools, 76.4% offered a minimum of one dual enrolled course for the 2004 graduating cohort; the corresponding figure for the 2006 graduating cohort was 86.6%. Thus, a large majority of public high schools in Virginia offered a minimum of one dual enrolled course to students who graduated in either the spring of 2004 or 2006. This information is summarized in Table 1. For a more detailed analysis at the high school level, please see Pretlow and Wathington (2013).
Number and Type of High Schools Offering Dual Enrollment.
Participation in Dual Enrollment
In addition, to the number of high schools offering dual enrollment courses, the data also show an expansion in the number of seniors who enrolled in a minimum of one such course. Of the 75,101 high school seniors who graduated from a Virginia public high school in the spring of 2004, 10,348 students, or 13.8%, participated in a minimum of one dual enrolled course. The corresponding figure for the 2006 cohort was 12,267, or 15.8%, of the 77,740 high school graduates. This shift represents an increase in dual enrollment participation of over 18% while the total number of high school graduates increased only slightly more than 3% over the same period. This information is summarized in Table 2.
Dual Enrollment Participation by Gender.
Gender
Although overall dual enrollment participation did increase, these gains were not evenly distributed. Female participation in dual enrollment courses increased from 2004 to 2006 by 18.0%, from 5,806 to 6,853 participants. Males, though having fewer total participants, increased their participation at a slightly higher rate of 19.2%, from 4,542 to 5,414 participants. Although males increased their participation at a greater rate, they remained underrepresented in dual enrollment courses when compared with their percentage of all high school graduates. In the 2004 cohort, males accounted for 49.4% of high school graduates but only 43.9% of dual enrollment participants. The corresponding figures for females were 50.6% of high school graduates and 56.1% of dual enrollment participants. After the policy change, dual enrollment of both male and female students as a percentage of high school graduates remained virtually unchanged. By 2006, males were 49.6% of high school graduates and 44.1% of dual enrollment participants; females were 50.4% of high school graduates and 55.9% of dual enrollment participants (see Table 2).
Race and ethnicity
Black and Hispanic students enjoyed the largest gains in dual enrollment participation from 2004 to 2006. The number of participating Black students increased from 1,359 to 1,707, a 25.6% increase. For Hispanic students, the increases were even greater. The number of Hispanic seniors participating in a minimum of one dual enrollment course increased from 32 to 50, a 56.3% increase. These gains are in contrast to those of White students. White student participation in dual enrollment increased from 8,441 to 9,851, a 16.7% increase.
However, while these percentages represent growth for each subgroup of student, the results also reveal that Black and Hispanic seniors were still significantly underrepresented and White seniors overrepresented in dual enrollment courses relative to their proportion of high school graduates. While White students made up 66.2% of the 2004 graduating class, they accounted for 81.6% of dual enrollment students. The corresponding figures for Black students were 23.7% and 13.1%, respectively. The numbers of Hispanic dual enrolled seniors were particularly abysmal. Though Hispanics accounted for 4.5% of the 2004 graduating class, they constituted less than one third of 1% (0.31%) of dual enrollment students with only 32 of the 3,433 Hispanic high school graduates participating in a minimum of one dual enrollment course during their senior year.
The policy change, though associated with gains by all groups of students, did not significantly decrease the participation gap among racial/ethnic groups of students. While White students made up 64.3% of the 2006 graduating class, they accounted for 80.3% of dual enrollment students. The corresponding figures for Black students were 23.8% and 13.9%, respectively. The numbers of dual enrolled students for Hispanics remained abysmal. Though Hispanics accounted for 5.5% of the 2006 graduating class, they constituted less than one half of 1% (0.41%) of dual enrollment students with only 50 of the 4,334 Hispanic graduates participating in a minimum of one dual enrollment course during their senior year. This information is summarized in Table 3.
High School Graduates and Dual Enrollment Participation by Race/Ethnicity.
Credit hours
Participation as measured by dual enrollment credit hours also increased, though only slightly, from 2004 to 2006. Conditional on enrolling in a minimum of one dual enrolled course, the 2004 graduates attempted an average of 11.97 dual enrolled credit hours; the 2006 graduates attempted an average of 12.18 credits. Although there was a 1.75% increase in the number of dual enrollment credits attempted, each cohort member attempted approximately four, three-credit college-level courses while in high school. Though enrollment intensity increased slightly, the success rate remained virtually unchanged with approximately 98% of both cohorts receiving college credit (defined as earning a “C” or better) for all of the credits they attempted. As the mean is susceptible to the influence of outliers, it should be noted that both the median and mode of credits attempted and passed remained constant from 2004 to 2006 at 6 and 8 credits, respectively. As measured by participation at the student level, this evidence suggests that the amended policy did expand dual enrollment participation. Furthermore, though there was an increase in the number of high schools and students participating, the average number of credits attempted increased slightly and the success rate remained constant. See Table 4.
Dual Enrollment Credits Attempted and Earned.
Postsecondary Enrollment
By exposing students to college-level work, dual enrollment has been touted as providing academically prepared students an “on-ramp” to higher education (Karp & Hughes, 2008). If this is the case, we would expect to see dual enrolled students matriculate in postsecondary education in significant numbers. Furthermore, given that all students placed into college-level in the subject(s) in which they were dually enrolled and the success rates of students described above, it is reasonable to deduce that these students were prepared for the rigor of college-level academics.
Within cohort differences
2004 cohort
Of dual enrollment seniors who graduated in the spring of 2004, 87% enrolled in higher education within 4 years of graduating high school (by the spring of 2008). Over half of these immediately enrolled in higher education in the summer or fall following high school graduation. Of the students who immediately enrolled, two times as many enrolled in a 4-year institution (36%) than a VCCS institution (18%). Within 1 year of high school graduation (by the fall 2005 semester), slightly more than two thirds (68%) of the 2004 cohort had enrolled in higher education. A majority of this increased enrollment took place in community colleges. Within 1 year of high school graduation, enrollment at 4-year institutions had increased by 2.7 percentage points whereas enrollment at VCCS institutions increased by over 11 percentage points. By the spring of 2008—4 years after high school graduation—87% of dual enrolled students had enrolled in higher education. Interestingly, of this 87% who enrolled in higher education, it was almost evenly split between those who enrolled in a VCCS and a 4-year institution. The majority of students who delayed enrollment in higher education for longer than 1 year beyond high school graduation enrolled in a VCCS institution rather than a 4-year institution. This information is summarized in Table 5.
Cumulative Percentage of Postsecondary Enrollment of Dual Enrollment Students Four Years After High School Graduation by Cohort, Type of Institution, and Timing of Enrollment.
Note. VCCS = VirginiaCommunity College System.
2006 cohort
The 2006 cohorts’ enrollment patterns are similar to those of the 2004 cohort. Four years after high school graduation, 86% of the 2006 cohort had enrolled in postsecondary education, a percentage almost identical to the 2004 cohort (87%). Over half (58%) of these students enrolled immediately in higher education, defined as the summer or fall of 2006. Of those immediate enrollees, almost two times as many enrolled in a 4-year institution (38%) than a VCCS institution (20%). Over two thirds of 2006 graduates enrolled in higher education within 1 year of high school graduation. Although a majority of these students were enrolled in a 4-year institution, VCCS institutions experienced a larger increase in enrollments among the students who delayed enrollment for up to 1 year. By the spring of 2010, an identical 43% of students had enrolled in a VCCS and in a 4-year institution. This information is summarized in Table 5.
Between-cohort differences
Though similar total percentages of seniors who graduated in 2004 (87%) and 2006 (86%) enrolled in higher education by the spring of 2010, these figures mask important differences in both the timing and the type of institution in which students enrolled. A higher percentage of students from the 2006 cohort immediately enrolled in higher education (58%) compared with the 2004 cohort (54%). In terms of real students, this represents an additional 1,500 students immediately enrolling in higher education. Given that delaying enrollment has been shown to have negative implications for eventual degree completion (Adelman, 1999, 2006; Bozick & DeLuca, 2005), this is an important shift.
Across both cohorts, students who do delay enrollment for both up to 1 year or up to 4 years and who enroll in postsecondary education, disproportionally enroll in a community college. Community colleges need to be aware of these enrollment patterns and the implications for student success. For example, delaying enrollment could have implications for the percentage of students who then test into remedial or developmental courses. Not having engaged with academic work for a number of years, especially in mathematics, may negatively affect students’ placement test scores. Previous research demonstrates that students who place into developmental education are less likely to earn a degree or credential when compared with similar students who do not place into developmental courses (Attewell, Lavin, Domina, & Levey, 2006; Bettinger & Long, 2004, 2005; Calcagno, Crosta, Bailey, & Jenkins, 2007; Calcagno & Long, 2008). Thus, creating special refresher programs, such as a bridge program, may benefit these students who delay enrollment.
As stated above, approximately 87% of seniors who took a minimum of one dual enrolled course matriculated in postsecondary education within 4 years of high school graduation. In the context of these data, this means that 1,345 and 1,717 dual enrolled high school graduates in 2004 and 2006, respectively, did not enroll in postsecondary education within 4 years of graduating high school. These over 3,000 students graduated high school were qualified for college-level work in a minimum of one subject, and presumptively earned some college credit—as the success rate in dual enrollment courses was 98%—and yet did not enroll in higher education. This represents a lost opportunity for the commonwealth of Virginia. Perhaps specifically targeting dual enrolled students while they are still in high school could increase the percentage who matriculates. Targeting this college ready group of students could have immediate implications for degree attainment.
Limitations
This study is bounded by several limitations. First, this study involves retrospective data analysis. As a result, we cannot ensure that the policy was implemented as intended. Although the policy was enacted a number of years ago, an investigation into the actual implementation of dual enrollment practices to determine fidelity to policy is recommended. Second, this study is descriptive in nature and makes no causal claims concerning the effect of dual enrollment or dual enrollment policy on students’ participation and outcomes. Descriptive results suggest that though participation in dual enrollment programs increased after the 2005 policy change, further research is needed to determine if the policy itself caused these changes.
Third, this study is limited by the available data. The data do not allow us to derive a precise measure of student access to dual enrollment courses at the high school level. For example, a high school that offered only one dual enrolled course in one academic year is classified as offering the same level of access to dual enrollment courses as a high school that offered multiple dual enrollment courses over multiple years. Further investigation of levels of access to dual enrollment courses is needed to understand what opportunities are available to students. The data include dual enrollment course taking for only the high school graduates in the given years. Thus, if the policy significantly increased the course taking of students in lower grades, it would not be captured in our analysis. Last, due to data limitations in the commonwealth of Virginia, it is currently not feasible to present the college matriculation rates for all high school graduates in the given years as a comparison group to the dual enrolled students. Fortunately, this will not be the case moving forward as Virginia is now able to provide postsecondary enrollment and degree information beginning with the spring 2008 high school graduates (“New Reports Bridge K-12 & Higher Education Data Divide,” 2012).
Implications
Taken together, the descriptive results presented above suggest that Governor Warner’s policy change in 2005 is associated with an increase in access and participation in dual enrollment programs. However, though all subgroups of students experienced gains in participation, White and female students remained the dominant participants in dual enrollment courses and were the only overrepresented subgroups when compared with their representation among high school graduates. Conversely, Black, Hispanic, and Asian students made up 34.7% of the graduating cohort in 2006, yet accounted for only 16.6% of the dual enrollment participants. This discrepancy takes on an added importance when it is considered in light of Virginia’s shifting demographics.
The fastest growing student subgroups in Virginia are also those whose dual enrollment participation is severely lagging. This trend is particularly apparent for Hispanic students, whose share of high school graduates increased by over 26% from 2004 to 2006, and accounted for approximately 5.5% of all high school graduates in the spring of 2006. By the fall census date for the 2011-2012 academic year, Hispanic students’ share of 12th-grade students in Virginia had increased to 9.5%, a 94.5% increase from the 2005-2006 academic year. With nearly 1 in 10 high school seniors now Hispanic, developing avenues for their participation in programs like dual enrollment is imperative.
With the increased emphasis on college degree attainment at the national and state level, targeting the “low hanging fruit” could provide economical ways to increase the percentage of the population who has a postsecondary credential. The almost 15% of dual enrolled students who did not matriculate represent just such as a group. Our findings reveal that rather than assuming that students who participate in dual enrollment will matriculate, institutional actors should consciously target these students. Perhaps having a counselor from the community college visit every dual enrollment classroom would help nudge those students on the margin into higher education.
Consistent with Governor Warner’s goals, participation in dual enrollment did increase in Virginia after the 2005 policy change. However, it may have perpetuated the educational opportunity gap among student subgroups rather than help to decrease it, an unanticipated consequence of the policy change. Our results show certain groups were more likely to participate in dual enrollment than were other groups of students. In the end, dual enrollment might reinforce educational stratification where it need not exist. Previous research has shown that a rigorous high school curriculum is the single most important predictor of success in postsecondary education (Adelman, 1999, 2006). If Virginia is going to achieve Governor McDonnell’s ambitious goal of 100,000 additional degree recipients over the next 15 years (McDonnell, 2009), increasing access to and participation in programs such as dual enrollment to all students, especially underrepresented students, is of the utmost importance.
Footnotes
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.