Dive Brief:
- A growing number of California high schoolers are choosing dual enrollment, where they have the opportunity to work toward an associate degree while finishing high school either by taking college classes at their schools or their entire programs on college campuses.
- EdSource reports California has been pushing these programs in recent years because of research showing high school students who take college classes are more likely to graduate from high school, earn a college degree, enroll in a four-year college, and enroll full-time.
- A law passed in January allows high school students to take 15 community college credits per semester (up from 11) and to take those courses in their high schools instead of having to travel to community colleges, both of which may have contributed to the 56% increase in the number of students taking at least one college course in the 2015-16 school year compared to 2012-13.
Dive Insight:
As a college degree becomes increasingly important for a middle class lifestyle in this country, schools and state education agencies are trying to find more ways to ensure students end up with a college degree after high school. It is not surprising that offering students the opportunity to earn an associate degree for free before even leaving a supportive high school environment has been embraced by a growing number of high school students in California.
President Barack Obama tried to push the idea of free community college, highlighting programs in Chicago and Tennessee in his 2015 State of the Union address. Oregon has followed Tennessee with a statewide initiative and other states are considering the same. These initiatives are running through community colleges, however, not high school partnerships. But free community college is also now poised to become part of the Democratic National Party's platform. If the first two years of college is considered the next frontier in public, K-12 education, perhaps high schools should consider taking up the mantle.