Takeaways From New Dual Enrollment Data

Dual enrollment participation has grown significantly over the past two decades, with more students successfully integrating college-level courses into their high school experience. In 2024, we got better insight into dual enrollment as the The Department of Education released national IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) data, for the first time, that includes institution-level counts of dual enrollment.

John Fink, Senior Research Associate and Program Lead at the Community College Research Center (CCRC), Teachers College, Columbia University, joined us on a recent Parchment podcast to explore the key takeaways from CCRC’s analysis of this new data. We unpacked how dual enrollment shapes students’ postsecondary experience.

A Head Start Worth Making: Understanding the Purpose and Impact of Dual Enrollment

By familiarizing students with college-level coursework, rigor, and pace, dual enrollment can facilitate a relatively smooth bridge between high school and college. From access and preparedness to potentially reduced time and cost-effectiveness for degree completion, dual enrollment can offer several benefits for students.

The CCRC’s dashboard provides valuable insights into the enrollment data for practitioners, students, high schools, and colleges. “You can look up a college, a state, how many students there are, the racial and gender breakdown, and the percentage of undergraduates in dual enrollment,” says Fink. This tracks dual enrollment reporting and reframes the significance of working towards increased growth. The ultimate goal? Equitable postsecondary student access, representation, participation, and success.

The Latest From IPEDS: What Dual Enrollment Practitioners Need To Know

The main area of analysis for practitioners from this latest data is student enrollment and access, with interesting trends emerging to map out what’s possible going forward.

While dual enrollment outcomes were not the focus of this analysis, Fink emphasizes how effective this new data will be for understanding “the local and national size of dual enrollment, the significance of this population, and the representation by race and gender compared to other students at the college [level].” He notes three big takeaways for practitioners:

Dual enrollment is big — On average, 21% of community college undergraduates, nationally (8.6 million) were high school students. And in 10 states, dual enrollment students make up 33% or more of enrollment at community colleges. As these numbers continue to grow, dual enrollment has the potential to expand access and opportunity for students across the country.
Black and Hispanic students are underrepresented in dual enrollment — Black students comprise 13% of overall undergraduate enrollment, but only 8% of dual enrollment participants. Similarly, Hispanic/Latino students make up 22% of undergraduates and only 20% of dual enrollment. This provides an important foundation for renewed support within the education system’s existing inequities.
Consistent reporting opens doors to replicate successful systems — Data analysis can inspire a DEEP approach to dual enrollment for multi-level improvements: access, enrollment, and outcomes.

Why Dual Enrollment Matters: A Simple Door Opener or Dynamic College Accelerator?

Dual enrollment can be a door opener or a college accelerator, depending on a host of factors, including high school resources, student backgrounds, teaching levels, and continued support. At the heart of this dynamic option are well-anchored students who, ideally, stand in good stead to graduate ahead of time and potentially pay less costs.

For Fink, dual enrollment offers more than high-value guided pathways. It’s also a way to increase access to “a dual enrollment course that’s going to really connect to students’ interests, get them excited about college, a specific study program, and a worthwhile degree plan.” This holistic, student-centered approach considers quality, rigor, and individual needs, better preparing college prospects for tangible success in their postsecondary journey.

Learning From the Latest Data: Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Practice

By consolidating the latest IPEDS data and zooming in on the major insights, dual enrollment practitioners can start to troubleshoot, anticipate, and initiate the necessary changes in organizational structure and institutional resources to respond to the most urgent enrollment gaps and access inequalities.

According to Fink, restructuring requires intensified but targeted “coordination, oversight, collaboration” so that more high school students are adequately exposed to and supported through dual enrollment. With effective management and monitoring, schools can cast a wider net and achieve “increased access and strong course success rates,” says Fink.

The Future of Dual Enrollment: Guided Pathways Across All Demographics

There are dual enrollment gaps to close, with the most pressing being different levels of access across demographic groups, particularly Hispanic and Black students. But the future of dual enrollment is promising, and growth seems inevitable.

“For Black students, it was more challenging. Institutions and states haven’t had as much success closing gaps for Black students in access to dual enrollment,” notes Fink, further showcasing why up-to-date stats and reports like IPEDS make a difference for monitoring and resource implementation.

The key to unlocking the right immediate action measures lies in increased information sharing, student encouragement, amplified resources, and more access across different schools. That’s what practitioners stand to gain by using IPEDS data and a platform like the CCRC’s new dashboard to synthesize the latest information and data.

Dual Enrollment: Offering Valuable Pathways for Higher Education Success

Dual enrollment can be a significant step for many students seeking smoother pathways to college-level success. With the potential benefits of shorter timeframes to degree completion, lower costs, and a greater likelihood of graduation, dual enrollment requires a robust, all-hands-on-deck, DEEP approach to see sustained outcomes for the education system as a whole.

“We [are] closing gaps [and] working more towards equal representation of students by race and gender,” says Fink, but more work needs to be done to ensure a dual enrollment initiative can level out the playing field for access to higher education and career opportunities for students of all backgrounds.

Keen to learn more and get more details about IPEDS’ latest data drop, together with what CCRC believes is a progressive dual enrollment approach? Listen to the full podcast here for key insights, tips, and information.