New Data Confirm Community Colleges Are Leaders in Dual Enrollment Education

Community College Insights

September 6, 2024

Introduction

When we developed the Richmond Fed's Survey of Community College Outcomes, one of our priorities was to collect data on the unique ways community colleges serve students. Conversations with community college leaders made it clear that dually enrolled students — high school students earning college credit by taking community college courses — were an important segment of students who were not being consistently captured across states.

Last month, the National Center for Education Statistics released its first estimates of dual enrollment for the 2022-2023 academic year as part of its provisional fall Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) release. The IPEDS data release indicates that roughly 2.5 million undergraduate students (or 12 percent of the undergraduate unduplicated credit headcount) are high schoolers. As initial estimates of a notoriously difficult-to-measure population, these data should be interpreted with caution. However, initial estimates confirm what we have been hearing and seeing through our work: Community colleges serve almost 75 percent of dually enrolled students nationwide, and there is significant variation across states, institution types, and student demographic characteristics.

How IPEDS Defines Dual Enrollment

Dual Enrollment

Refers to students who enroll in college courses offered by an institution of higher education while enrolled in high school or seeking a recognized equivalent. Student performance is recorded on a college transcript and postsecondary credit¹ is awarded for a passing grade in the course.

Includes: All postsecondary courses, independent of course delivery mode, course location, course instructor, whether secondary credit is also offered, and whether the student enrolls through a formal state/local program or enrolls outside a formal state/local program.

Excludes: Credit-by-exam models such as Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate in which the student is not enrolled in a postsecondary institution.
Source: NCES IPEDS Glossary

Finding Common Ground on the Definition of Dual Enrollment

There are a range of reasons why a high school student may choose to take college courses. A student may want to take an advanced math course that is not available at the local high school. For other students, earning credits toward a degree or certificate through their local community college can help reduce the overall cost of that degree — especially in states that shift the cost burden away from students and their families. Other students may be enrolled in early college high schools, which are often located on community college campuses and require students to take a minimum number of college courses each semester. Through its cooperative innovative high school (CIHS) model, North Carolina takes this concept a step further. Students enrolled in one of the state's 118 CIHS associated with a community college work toward an associate degree or long-term certificate with the goal of graduating high school with a postsecondary credential in hand.

The variation in how states and higher education systems count high school students enrolled concurrently in college has been a major impediment to collecting data consistently across states. States structure funding and qualifications for dual enrollment students in vastly different ways. Within each state, the postsecondary institutions, school districts, and localities must coordinate decision-making resources. We've written about the differences in funding and eligibility for dual enrollment across Fifth District states, both of which affect participation rates. In our extended pilot survey of 63 community colleges, we found that approximately 18 percent of undergraduate students taking credit courses were high schoolers during the 2021-2022 academic year.

Previously, the best estimates available for dual enrollment across all institutions was derived from using student age as a proxy for whether a student is enrolled in high school. In the fall 2022-2023 IPEDS data collection, postsecondary institutions were asked to report dually enrolled students for the first time. (See "How IPEDS Defines Dual Enrollment.") Importantly, dually enrolled students in the IPEDS data do not need to be enrolled through a formal dual enrollment program: Any student taking course credits that can be used toward a postsecondary degree or certificate is counted.

Variation in Community Colleges Dominate Dual Enrollment Overall

Community colleges are the predominant higher education sector educating high school students. The 121 community colleges in the Fifth District enrolled 167,318 high schoolers in 2022-2023, representing 21.9 percent of all community college credit students. In North Carolina and Virginia, roughly one quarter of community college students taking credit courses were in high school. In the remaining three states, the headcount share was closer to 17 percent. (See chart below.)

Aggregate state values mask the wide range in dual enrollment shares across colleges. In Maryland, for example, the dual enrollment share of credit enrollment ranged from 8 percent at Montgomery College in suburban Washington, D.C., to 41 percent at Garrett College in the western, rural part of the state.

This variation reflects the range of policies and funding structures in place, as well as student preferences and demographics. Each state's higher education landscape also factors into these shares. Four-year institutions play a larger role in dual enrollment some states, which may put a damper on dual enrollment at community colleges. West Virginia, for example, has several public four-year institutions enrolling relatively high shares of high school students. Only 4 percent of undergraduate credit students at West Virginia University, the state's flagship university, are dually enrolled high schoolers, while among the remaining eight four-year undergraduate-focused institutions across the state, dually enrolled students represent 22 percent of undergraduate enrollment. Similarly, two regional public universities in South Carolina have above-average share of dual enrollment credit students: Fifteen percent of undergraduate students at Winthrop University and 25 percent of undergraduate credit students at Francis Marion University are dually enrolled in high school. Nationwide, dually enrolled high school students represented only 6 percent of undergraduate enrollment at public four-year institutions.

Is Dual Enrollment Higher at Rural-Serving Community Colleges?

In our conversations with community college leaders, one recurring theme has been the importance of dual enrollment in rural communities. High schools in these areas may have limited offerings of Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses, which makes community college courses the sole local option to earn college credits in high school. Compared to their urban counterparts, fewer rural students attend four-year institutions after graduating, so building in-demand skills (or even a workforce credential) while still in high school may be the surest path to the workforce for some rural students.

Like the country as a whole, community college service areas range in size, density, and population, and there are many ways to define which communities are rural. One simple measure of an area's rurality is the share of the population living in a census-defined rural area. When we divide Fifth District service areas into five buckets based on their relative rural population, we see a clear pattern of higher shares of dual enrollment at community colleges serving more rural populations. (See chart below.)

Rurality is just one dimension where dual enrollment varies — in future posts, we will dig deeper into patterns across demographics, institution type, and size. Moreover, it's important to note that as with all IPEDS enrollment data, the dual enrollment estimates include only credit students. Non-credit students — often those taking workforce courses or career and technical education training — are excluded.

Looking Ahead: Richmond Fed's Detailed Estimates of Dual Enrollment in the Fifth District

The addition of consistent dual enrollment data collected nationally across institutions is an important step toward a richer understanding of how high school students engage in higher education. Community colleges are the primary providers of college education for current high school students, but in some cases, there are financial disincentives for community colleges to enroll these students. Institutions are placed in the difficult position of meeting the needs of their communities and ensuring financial stability for the students, staff, faculty, and longevity of the institution.

Dual enrollment is an important segment for many community colleges. and at some schools, it is the fastest growing enrollment segment. But it is not a monolith — programs and student composition vary significantly. Understanding the varying resource requirements and what dual enrollment success looks like for community colleges requires a deeper dive. In November, we will share data from our Survey of Community College Outcomes covering the 2022-2023 academic year. We are gathering data on both credit and non-credit dual enrollment students and capturing data separately for students enrolled in early college programs. Community college students, including high schoolers, enroll with different goals in mind. Our data will show how many degrees, certificates and credentials are earned by dual enrollment students, along with their rate of credit attainment.

CREDIT: Recognition of attendance or performance in an instructional activity (course or program) that can be applied by a recipient toward the requirements for a degree, diploma, certificate, or other formal award.

Views expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond or the Federal Reserve System.