The Link Between Dual-Enrollment Partnership Characteristics and Outcomes

• In Event: Frontier Evidence on How Dual Enrollment Benefits Students and Communities: Evidence from States and National Data.

Abstract

Dual enrollment (DE) programs enable high school students to earn college credit. Although variation in partnership contexts likely contributes to differences in DE access and structures, the extent of variation across DE partnerships is unclear. To understand variation in key DE structures and outcomes across partnerships, we examined dual-enrollment partnerships between public high schools and community colleges in Texas, a state with one of the highest rates of DE participation in the nation. Using statewide administrative data for over 150,000 DE students across three cohorts, we constructed partnership-level metrics and outcomes for 1,820 unique high school-college pairings.

 

We described DE partnerships and used multivariate regressions to estimate which DE structures and contexts predict aggregate DE course completion, college enrollment, and degree attainment. Descriptive results show considerable variation across DE partnerships, especially in student composition, partnership structures, and course offerings. For example, partnerships differed notably by geographic locale and Title I status, with rural and Title I partnerships enrolling fewer students, relying more heavily on online instruction, and exhibiting more selective DE access based on academic performance. Urban partnerships, though fewer in number, disproportionately served racially minoritized and low-income students and offered more CTE (career and technical education) coursework and courses on college campus.

 

Regression analyses suggest that contextual characteristics—especially geographic locale and whether the partnership used an Early College High School (ECHS) model—are stronger predictors of aggregate student outcomes than malleable DE course structures such as course subject, location, or instructor type. Partnerships involving ECHSs were associated with substantially higher rates of university enrollment and associate degree attainment. Similarly, partnerships located in urban areas, compared to rural ones, had significantly higher rates of four-year college enrollment and associate and bachelor’s degree completion, though they also faced resource constraints and higher DE course withdrawal rates.

 

While some DE course structure variables (e.g., proportion of CTE courses or college-campus offerings) had statistically significant associations with outcomes, their practical effects were small. These findings suggest that efforts to improve DE effectiveness may need to move beyond adjusting individual course features and instead focus on addressing broader contextual disparities across partnerships. Importantly, increasing access to DE for low-income and racially minoritized students did not meaningfully reduce aggregate partnership-level outcomes, indicating that broadening participation is unlikely to diminish overall success rates and may, in fact, improve equity in postsecondary attainment.

 

Our study contributes to the literature by examining DE as an interorganizational field and identifying meaningful predictors of aggregate success across over 1,800 high school–college partnerships. Findings underscore the importance of understanding local constraints and institutional contexts when designing DE programs. Policymakers and practitioners should consider how to support rural partnerships—especially those relying heavily on online delivery—and explore ways to expand the effective practices found in ECHS models to broader á la carte DE contexts. Future research should explore the mechanisms through which ECHS environments support students and evaluate how those supports might be replicated across diverse DE settings to promote equity and long-term student success.

 

Author

• Wonsun Ryu, University of Texas at Austin
  Presenting Author