College Credit Accumulation in High School and Linkages to Postsecondary Success

• In Event: Promise Fulfilled? The Transfer of College Credits Earned in High School

Abstract

Objectives: An ever-growing number of high school students are earning college-level credits in high school, either through dual enrollment or by passing the Advanced Placement exam. (Fink, 2024). This paper adds to existing research by examining the number and types of college credits earned in high school and how they relate to college outcomes.

Perspective: Research has suggested that earning college credit through dual enrollment or Advanced Placement courses is associated with increases in college enrollment and attainment (An & Taylor, 2019; Evans, 2019b; Schaller, Routon, Partridge, & Berry, 2025; Smith, Hurwitz, & Avery, 2017). However, there is little research on the relationship between the number of courses students take and these outcomes. This study fills this gap.

Methods: This is a descriptive and correlational study that examines the number of courses students take in high school and the relationship with these courses to various postsecondary outcomes. To look at this, we fit multivariate linear regression models which control for student and school characteristics, but note these models represent descriptive evidence and not causal impacts. We also examined how relationships between credits and postsecondary outcomes vary across student characteristics.

Data sources: We used administrative education records from North Carolina’s K-12 schools and two-year and four-year postsecondary institutions to examine the number and types of college-level credits high schoolers earn. Then, we linked these data to National Student Clearinghouse records to descriptively examine how the number of credits earned related to postsecondary outcomes.

Results: On average, North Carolina high school graduates earned 5.4 college-level credits, including 2.5 dual enrollment credits and 2.9 AP credits; however, the majority of students did not earn any credits. Among students earning at least one college level credit, the average student earned15 credits. Students in the state’s early college high schools also earned substantially more credits, an average of 42. Credit accumulation varied significantly across student characteristics. Students who were economically disadvantaged, from underrepresented racial or ethnic minority backgrounds, or male earned fewer college-level credits, including dual enrollment and advanced placement credits, than their peers. Overall credit accumulation was similar in urban and rural areas, however, students in rural areas were more likely to earn dual enrollment credits and those in urban areas were more likely to earn advanced placement credits. Students who earned any college credit in high school were no more likely to complete an associate degree than their peers, but they were 5.2 percentage points more likely to complete a bachelor’s degree. Each additional college-level credit was associated with a 0.1 percentage point increase in associate degree receipt and a 0.2 percentage point increase in bachelor’s degree receipt. However, these relationships varied across types of credits. The relationship between credits earned and college degree attainment was more positive for students who were from underrepresented racial/ethnic minority backgrounds, economically disadvantaged students and those with lower levels of academic preparation.

Significance: Results from this study suggest that expanding access to college credit opportunities may help to reduce inequities in educational attainment.

Authors

• Christine Mulhern, RAND

• Brian M. Phillips, RAND Corporation

• Michelle Bongard, RAND Corporation

• Cristina Alvarez, RAND Corporation