Research tells us that high school students who take college
courses while they are still in high school benefit from the
experience in both systems. To capitalize on the benefits of this
dual enrollment, California and other states have moved to
increase high school students’ access to college courses.
Researchers from the
California Education
Lab (UC Davis) have matched high school and
community college datasets to provide a clearer picture of
college course-taking among California public high school
students statewide.
A Foot in the Door reveals that:
College course taking by high school students in California is
more prevalent than previously understood: 18.2% of high school
graduates from the 2018-19 cohort took a course at a
community college at some point during their high school
experience.
Participation has grown in recent years among all racial and
socioeconomic groups of students, but disparities in
participation, while shrinking, persist. Latinx, Black
and socioeconomically disadvantaged students are underrepresented
in community college course taking compared to their share of
overall high school students.
There may be reason for optimism, however, in that a
growing type of structured dual enrollment — courses that
exclusively enroll high school students — appears to have more
equitable participation across racial/ethnic subgroups.
Despite increases in dual enrollment in recent years, student
opportunity to take community college courses often depends on
the high school they attend.
Download
A Foot in the Door.
For dual enrollment participation by Race/Ethnicity,
download the
Appendix.
See news coverage of this research by
EdSource and
Community College Daily.
Download our earlier
research: A Rising Tide infographic.
For local/regional dual enrollment data, download the
Appendix of County Level Stats.
Download A Leg Up on College, our
original report on
dual enrollment.
See the Presentations: Researchers and college leaders
presented A
Leg Up On College: Dual Enrollment Growth Across California’s
Community Colleges at the Community College League of
California annual conference In November 2020.
Webinars
In October 2021, College Futures Foundation hosted a live webinar
featuring Wheelhouse and PPIC researchers, Fresno-based educators
and dual enrollment advocates. View the
webinar here.
In February 2020, EdSource, PACE
and Wheelhouse hosted a live webinar with a panel of
experts to explore dual enrollment. View the webinar here.