Reporting on the Explosive Growth in Dual Enrollment

Dual enrollment is exploding among high schoolers. Nearly 2.5 million high school students took at least one dual enrollment course in the 2022-23 academic year, according to recent data from the U.S. Department of Education. That’s up from the estimated 1.5 million students who participated in dual enrollment in fall 2021. As a result, community colleges are increasingly serving high school students. It’s estimated that one fifth of community college students are now high schoolers in dual enrollment courses. 

Despite this growth, many questions about dual enrollment remain, including the purpose of these programs. Is the goal to expose high school students to college-level coursework and increase their likelihood of pursuing higher education? Is it to help college-bound students finish their degrees faster and save money in the long run? Are all dual enrollment courses achieving those goals? 

And as participation grows, who might be left behind? Research continues to show low-income, Black and Latino students are underrepresented in dual enrollment compared to their peers. What are schools and districts doing to ensure students of all backgrounds have access to these courses?  

The Education Writers Association will hold a webinar on Wednesday, Dec. 4, from 1 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. Eastern to help journalists better report on dual enrollment’s outcomes and investigate inequities in these programs. Hear from experts and other reporters about the latest research, story ideas to pursue and data to explore. The webinar will also include a demonstration of the Community College Research Center’s new data dashboard on dual enrollment.