Pillar 2: Dual enrollment

Dual enrollment enables students to take courses for which they earn both high school and college credits simultaneously. It is an evidence-based strategy to increase high school achievement and postsecondary attainment. High-quality dual enrollment is offered at no cost to students, and courses are widely transferable and aligned to pathway programs of study, ensuring they accelerate progress toward postsecondary degrees and credentials.

Why It Matters:

Dual enrollment can be a powerful tool for improving postsecondary outcomes, particularly for learners who might not otherwise see college as an option. Learners who participate are more likely to graduate from high school, enroll in college, complete their degrees, and accumulate less student debt. For many, these courses serve as a confidence boost and a first step into academic and career pathways they hadn’t previously considered. But the benefits of dual enrollment don’t happen automatically. Without thoughtful system design, programs may unintentionally widen opportunity gaps by limiting access to learners who are already high-achieving or well-resourced. That’s why dual enrollment must be implemented with intentional local policies, outreach, and support structures that center equity. It must be designed not just as an academic acceleration tool, but as a career-connected strategy that reduces time and cost to credentials and aligns learners’ coursework with real workforce needs.

Furthermore, the return on investment for dual enrollment is substantial. Although additional “early college” considerations beyond dual enrollment were considered, an evaluation by the American Institutes for Research (AIR) found a 15:1 cost-benefit ratio; $3,800 in public investment yielded over $57,000 in student and public benefit. Similarly, in Texas, every $1 spent on dual credit programming returned $1.18 in direct savings and nearly five times that in long-term economic gains through higher degree attainment and workforce participation. In Colorado, learners who accessed dual enrollment through the state’s Concurrent Enrollment program earned approximately 10% more five years after graduation than their peers who didn’t participate. These outcomes show that dual enrollment is both an equity strategy and a smart economic investment in communities, the future workforce, and ultimately, the next generation.

A Note on Other “College in High School” Opportunities to Consider:

Districts nationwide have varied approaches to offering learners opportunities to earn postsecondary credit while in high school, including Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), early college high school models, and dual and concurrent enrollment. All4Ed emphasizes dual enrollment in this Pillar and in other policy work due to its well-documented impact on postsecondary access and success. While all of the above options have the potential to provide rigorous academic experiences and college credit, research cautions that the benefits are not always distributed equitably. For example, AP and IB credits typically depend on high-stakes end-of-course exams, creating barriers for students who have less access to test fees, exam preparation resources, or who face systemic inequities in testing outcomes. In contrast, dual enrollment has been shown to provide more consistent and transferable credit, reduce remediation, and yield stronger long-term benefits, particularly for low-income students and students of color. Rigorous peer-reviewed research has found that dual enrollment participation improves a learner’s secondary and postsecondary outcomes, including general academic achievement in high school, high school completion, college access and enrollment, and college degree attainment.

For these reasons, our Future Ready Pathways Pillars emphasize dual enrollment, while encouraging districts to carefully examine how all opportunities for high school students to attain postsecondary credit are designed, who they serve, who may or may not have access to these opportunities, and what outcomes they produce.

Source:
IES. (2017). What Works Clearinghouse. Dual Enrollment Programs: Transition to College. https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/interventionreport/671

District Implementation Strategies

  • Align dual enrollment courses with career pathways, ensuring learners can earn credit that contributes meaningfully to their future goals and postsecondary programs.
  • Offer dual enrollment opportunities at no cost to students.
  • Align dual enrollment offerings with both academic and technical pathways, ensuring relevance for diverse learner goals.
  • Develop certification pathways for high school teachers to become dual enrollment instructors.
  • Offer an organized block of at least 12 dual enrollment credits to provide a meaningful set of aligned experiences.
  • Establish clear partnerships and articulation agreements with postsecondary institutions that define course offerings, credit transferability, eligibility requirements, and instructional support.
  • Partner with higher education systems and policymakers to develop or strengthen statewide credit transfer policies, such as articulation agreements, transferable core sequences, and guaranteed transfer of associate degrees.
  • Remove access barriers, such as placement test requirements, tuition costs, transportation, childcare, food insecurity, or scheduling conflicts, especially for learners from underserved populations.
  • Design advising systems that help learners and their families understand dual enrollment options, benefits, and risks, ensuring enrollment is intentional and informed.
  • Monitor participation and outcomes by learner group to monitor equity, adjust policies, and ensure the program is reaching those who benefit most.
  • Collaborate with higher education partners to ensure learners take college courses that are transferable and meet degree requirements, not just electives.
  • Advocate at the district and state level for clear articulation policies and credit transfer guarantees for dual enrollment courses.
  • Monitor where learners’ credits apply after high school to evaluate the real ROI of dual enrollment partnerships.
  • Use local, state, and philanthropic funds, and explore new funding to cover hidden costs, like transportation, tech access, or meals, for off-campus participation.
  • Create a districtwide communication strategy to ensure learners and families clearly understand dual enrollment opportunities, including the cost savings associated with earning college credit while in high school.
  • Create intentional outreach plans to recruit and support first-generation college learners, English learners, learners with disabilities, military-connected youth, etc.
  • Celebrate learner milestones publicly (e.g., associate’s degree completions, credential attainment before graduation) to reinforce the value of dual enrollment.

  • Do the demographics of those enrolled in dual enrollment courses mirror the demographics of the school?
    Why or why not?
  • How accessible are dual enrollment opportunities across all schools and learner groups in the district?
  • How balanced are our offerings between academic transfer courses and applied technical/CTE courses?
  • What professional learning is provided to school counselors and teachers to ensure accurate, up-to-date advising on dual enrollment?
  • Do our dual enrollment credits consistently transfer toward degrees at two- and four-year partner institutions? How do we know?
  • How are we monitoring learner success in dual enrollment courses, including persistence, completion, and impact on postsecondary outcomes?
  • Are our dual enrollment offerings aligned with postsecondary and workforce expectations? How do we know?
  • How are families engaged in understanding dual enrollment benefits, transferability, and financial implications?
  • What supports are in place to ensure all learners, especially first-generation and historically marginalized learners, can access and succeed in dual enrollment opportunities?

  • Tuition-free dual enrollment opportunities are accessible to all learners, with targeted supports for historically underserved groups.
  • Opportunities prioritize learner needs, including transportation, childcare for student parents, and meals, if courses are off campus.
  • A sequence of 12 dual enrollment credits is available, and strategically aligns with meaningful post-secondary experiences, avoiding the prevalent “random acts of dual enrollment”.
  • Guaranteed credit transfer agreements are in place with two- and four-year institutions, ensuring credits apply directly toward degree requirements.
  • Advising systems help learners and families understand dual enrollment options, eligibility, and long-term implications for postsecondary planning.
  • Bridge courses and supports (e.g., study skills, college success, tutoring) prepare learners for success in rigorous dual enrollment classes.
  • Teacher credentialing pathways allow high school faculty to become qualified dual enrollment instructors in partnership with higher education.
  • Dual enrollment offerings include both academic transfer and CTE/technical options, ensuring learners have multiple pathways to credit.
  • Partnerships with local colleges and universities expand access to diverse course offerings, both on campus and virtually.
  • Participation data is monitored by subgroup to identify and close gaps in access, credit accumulation, and success rates.
  • Financial literacy and college affordability advising are integrated to help families understand cost obligations and possibilities.
  • Postsecondary faculty collaboration with high school teachers ensures alignment in curriculum rigor and learner expectations.
  • Learners’ earned credits are tracked transparently and communicated as progress toward degrees, not just high school graduation.

Why It Pays to Invest in Dual Enrollment

  • A $3,819 investment in Early College High School (which goes beyond dual enrollment) generates over $57,000 in lifetime benefits per student.¹
  • Each $1 spent on Texas’s dual credit system yields $1.18 in short-term gains, and nearly 5x return long term.¹
  • Students in Colorado’s Concurrent Enrollment program earn ~10% more in wages after five years.²

Citations:
¹ AIR (American Institutes for Research), Early College and Texas DE Analysis
² University of Denver, Concurrent Enrollment Study

While the benefits of dual enrollment are widely recognized, reduced college costs, faster time to degree, and improved postsecondary access, these outcomes depend on whether college credits earned in high school successfully transfer to a learner’s eventual degree-granting institution. Alarmingly, the U.S. Government Accountability Office estimates that up to 43% of credits are lost upon transfer, with even public institutions seeing a 37% loss rate. Without statewide articulation agreements or guaranteed transfer policies, learners may be required to repeat courses, which can delay graduation and increase financial burdens. It’s important for school and district leaders to do their homework in this area and advocate on behalf of learners in their higher education partnership!

Dual Enrollment Program Readiness Checklist

Designed to help K–12 leaders strengthen and expand high-quality dual enrollment offerings, this checklist covers five key dimensions: strategy, access, partnerships, student support, and continuous improvement. It emphasizes equitable access, credit transfer alignment, early advising, and long-term student outcomes, ensuring that dual enrollment programs deliver real value to students, families, and communities.

Dual enrollment bridges high school, college, and career by providing learners with tangible progress toward postsecondary success. When systems are equitable, aligned, and supported, dual enrollment can be transformative, reducing costs, shortening time to degree, and expanding access to high-quality credentials. With robust dual enrollment in place, the next pillar, Work-Based Learning, ensures learners have authentic opportunities to apply their academic knowledge in real-world settings while building the skills and experiences valued by both colleges and employers.

  • Minnetonka Public Schools

    Minnesota

  • Atlantic County Institute of Technology (ACIT)

    New Jersey

Dive into Pillar 3: Work-Based Learning

Looking Ahead to Section 2: Career-Connected Exploration & Four Design Pillars

Work-based learning connects classroom learning with real-world work experiences, allowing learners to apply their knowledge in meaningful ways, build professional skills, and gain exposure to career paths in authentic settings.