College Readiness Report Supplement: A Closer Look at Dual Credit Students
Author: Indiana Commission for Higher Education
Date: 2016-05-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: College Readiness,Dual Enrollment,College Credits,High School Students,Educational Opportunities,Credentials,Public Colleges,Private Colleges,State Aid,Educational Finance,Eligibility,Grade Point Average,Student Characteristics,College Bound Students,Academic Achievement,Educational Trends,Racial Differences,College Entrance Examinations,Scores,African American Students,Hispanic American Students,Asian American Students,White Students,Advanced Placement,Tables (Data)

Dual credit courses offer high school students the opportunity to earn both high school and college credits in the same course. Indiana law requires each Indiana high school to offer a minimum of two dual credit courses (as well as two Advanced Placement (AP) courses) to expand opportunities for qualifying students to gain college-level experience while still in high school. Some specialized Early College High Schools use dual credit courses to enable students to earn postsecondary credentials along with their high school diplomas. Dual credit is offered by both public and independent (private, regionally accredited) colleges and universities. For Indiana public colleges, the state subsidizes certain types of dual credit identified as priority liberal arts (&quot;priority&quot;) or career and technical (&quot;technical&quot;) which are included in the state's Core Transfer Library. Such courses meet the general education or free elective requirements of undergraduate degree programs across the state and are offered at no cost to qualified lower income students. The state also subsidizes the cost of AP exams in math, science, and English, and these, too, are available to qualified lower-income students at no cost. Student eligibility to enroll in a dual credit course is determined by any minimum preparation and/or other entry requirements established by the awarding college and any limits established by individual high schools or colleges on the number of credits a student may earn. Additionally, under Indiana law, a student must achieve at least the equivalent of a 2.0 on a 4.0 grading scale (a letter grade of &quot;C&quot; or better) to enroll in subsequent related dual credit course work in the same subject area. This supplement to the College Readiness reports takes an even closer look at dual credit students, specifically those who earn dual credit-only and not AP exam credit, as a way to better understand dual credit student characteristics. The following questions are addressed: (1) How many and what types of students are earning dual credit-only; and (2) How do the dual credit-only students compare to other students in terms of college-going and college performance? As more data become available, the Commission is committed to further examining dual credit student trends by credit type (priority and technical) as well as longer-term postsecondary outcomes, such as completion rates and time to degree. More in-depth analyses on the relationship of dual credit to postsecondary outcomes are anticipated, as well.