Giving Compass' Take:

• Data from the U.S. Department of Education reveals inequalities in dual enrollment participation. Dual Enrollment is beneficial for students, but advantaged students are more likely to be involved. 

• How can funders work to increase equity in dual enrollment programs and opportunities? 

• Learn more about the opportunities that dual enrollment can provide. 

This report is based on data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09), a nationally representative study of more than 23,000 ninth-graders in 2009. Follow-up surveys were administered to the cohort in 2012, 2013, and 2016. The study also obtained data from students’ high school transcripts, generally covering the fall 2009 term through the summer 2013 term.

Students whose parents had higher levels of education more commonly took courses for postsecondary credit in high school: 42 percent of students whose parents had earned a Bachelor’s degree or higher took these courses, compared to 26 percent of students whose parents’ highest level of education was lower than a high school diploma (Figure 1). y A lower percentage of Hispanic students (30 percent) and Black students (27 percent) took courses for postsecondary credit in high school than did White or Asian students (both 38 percent).

Though many students take dual enrollment courses at their high school or on a college campus, providing such courses online or at other, regional high schools may increase access for students who do not live near a postsecondary institution. y Students who took courses for postsecondary credit while in high school most commonly took those courses at their own high school (80 percent). Less common locations were a college campus (17 percent), online (8 percent), and a high school other than the student’s own (6 percent).