Dual credit courses offer public high schools students the opportunity to take college-level courses and earn postsecondary credits while still in high school. A new report shows that most U.S. high schools are providing these opportunities for students, and many Career Technical Education (CTE) students are taking advantage to gain a head start into postsecondary education.
In Dual Credit and Exam-Based Courses in U.S. Public High Schools: 2010-11, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reveals that more than four out of five U.S. high schools report that their students are enrolled in dual credit courses. The report explores enrollment in dual credit courses, eligibility requirements for enrolling in dual credit courses, types of instructors in dual credit courses, and expenses paid by students and parents for dual credit courses. Findings include:
- Half of all high schools reported that students took dual credit courses with a CTE focus (table 4).
- High schools reported about 601,500 enrollees in dual credit courses with a career and technical/vocational focus (table 6).
- Among high schools with students enrolled in dual credit courses, 42 percent reported that students took dual credit courses with a CTE focus taught on the high school campus (table 10).
- High school students enrolled in dual credit courses with a CTE focus were less likely to pay tuition or fees than students enrolled in dual credit courses with an academic focus (table 12).
- For high schools with students enrolled in dual credit courses with a CTE focus taught on a postsecondary campus, 62 percent reported that both high school and postsecondary students were enrolled in the courses – similar to courses with an academic focus (table 15).
View our Dual Enrollment resource for more information on this topic.
Kara Herbertson, Research and Policy Manager Â
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