Dual enrollment has become an increasingly popular way for high school students to get a head start on college, but a new report from the Community College Research Center finds that opportunities to earn college credits remain underutilized, especially among students pursuing career and technical education.
The gap is substantial. According to data from the National Center for Education Statistics on 2019 high school graduates, 28 percent had taken at least one dual-enrollment course. But 33 percent completed three or more high school career and technical education credits without participating in dual enrollment. Based on the roughly 3.8 million students who graduate from high school annually, that translates to more than a million students each year missing out on opportunities to earn college credit.
The research from the center at Teachers College, Columbia University explores how colleges and K–12 districts can better connect career training with opportunities to earn college credits before high school graduation. Drawing on interviews with 135 educators and practitioners across 12 colleges, high schools and school districts, the report highlights ways institutions can strengthen these connections and help students build a foundation for continued education and future employment.
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Sarah Griffin, a research associate at the center and co-author of the report, said integrating college coursework into career-focused programs can help students better understand their educational options and how further training could support their professional goals.
“When you’re introducing them to college-level coursework in the context of a program that’s already engaging their career interests, this can really help make them be aware of the fact that there is a continued path after high school … that can help lead to better jobs with stronger-paying wages,” Griffin said.
Building on existing programs: The report identifies three broad strategies for expanding career-connected dual enrollment, each aimed at incorporating college coursework and student supports into existing high school and college programs.
Griffin said the approaches demonstrate how colleges and K–12 districts can build on existing partnerships and educational structures to create more opportunities for students to earn college credits.
“The colleges and schools that we visited are not creating new programs and they’re not reinventing the wheel,” Griffin said. “They’re leveraging their existing structures or programs to create these on-ramps to students by building in dual enrollment into their programs.”
3 Approaches to Expanding Career-Connected Dual Enrollment
- Embed dual enrollment in traditional CTE paths.
Under this approach, high schools replace some advanced CTE classes with courses that count toward both high school and college credit. Rather than create entirely new programs, schools build on existing paths that prepare students for particular occupations, allowing them to develop technical skills and begin earning college credits before graduation.
Kilgore College in East Texas, for example, partners with local school districts to offer dual-enrollment courses within existing CTE programs. At Longview High School, a large Title I school that receives federal funding to support students from low-income backgrounds, those courses are now available in 90 percent of its CTE classes.
- Integrate dual enrollment into career academies.
The second approach incorporates college courses into high school academies organized around broader themes or career fields. Unlike traditional CTE classes focused on specific occupations, these academies allow students to explore related subjects, industries and career options while earning college credits.
The report distinguishes between theme-based academies, which connect coursework around a common area of interest, and career-field academies, which introduce students to different occupations within an industry. Both combine classroom instruction with career exploration and opportunities for hands-on learning.
Oakland Unified School District in California, for example, has incorporated dual enrollment into career academies across its 16 high schools. Students enter an academy in 10th grade and remain through graduation. At Oakland Technical High School, students in the Fashion, Art and Design Academy take high school courses in fashion design, history and marketing alongside college-level graphic arts courses.
- Enroll high school students in college CTE programs.
The third approach allows high school students to begin community college certificate or degree programs before graduation. Students take courses within established college CTE programs, potentially earning short-term credentials and credits that can be applied toward more advanced degrees after high school.
Eastern Iowa Community Colleges, for example, offer college-level career training through regional centers that serve students from surrounding high schools. Through these programs, students can earn certificates and accumulate credits toward an associate of applied science degree while still completing high school.
Challenges and opportunities: Griffin said efforts to expand career-connected dual enrollment face many of the same challenges as traditional dual-enrollment partnerships, including insufficient funding, uneven program quality and difficulty coordinating between colleges and K–12 districts. Addressing these barriers requires institutions to establish a shared understanding of what they want students to achieve.
“One of the key lessons that we heard repeatedly throughout the research was that partnerships need to have a shared vision for expanding college and career success for all students,” Griffin said.
“Historically, there’s been this divide between college and career, and maybe unknowingly, this has influenced the way educators work with students in guiding them towards what their options are,” she added. “But the partnerships that we visited really rejected this divide, and they really wanted to expand both college and career opportunities for students.”
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Beyond strengthening partnerships, Griffin emphasized the importance of ensuring dual-enrollment courses align with students’ educational and career goals. While general education courses can help students make progress toward a degree, she said, some institutions offer disconnected courses without considering how they fit into a broader program of study.
“What we’re seeing from high-performing partnerships is that they are very carefully selecting courses that are of interest to students in order to motivate and spark their interest in different disciplines and careers,” Griffin said.
“They are clearly connecting these courses to a program of study at a community college and local four-year institutions so that students can really see the full trajectory of the courses that they’re going to take [and] what degrees they’re going to lead to,” she said.
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