Dive Brief:
- The number of students receiving a secondary degree while still in high school is growing at around 7% a year.
- Estimates of how many students leave high school with an associates degree range from hundreds into the thousands.
- In Iowa and New Mexico, estimates for the number of students taking college courses alongside their high school coursework top 50%.
Dive Insight:
As colleges and high schools grapple with how to smooth the transition between secondary and higher ed, an increasing number are searching for ways to introduce college-level instruction earlier. That can mean expanding Advanced Placement offerings or providing concurrent enrollment programs that lead to an associate’s degree.
One dual enrollment student in Minnesota said told USA Today that taking psychology classes in high school “affirmed what I really wanted to do."
Some states have seen a steep increase in interest. In Colorado, participation jumped 15% between the 2012-13 school year and the 2013-14 school year. A total of 31,100 students enrolled in the program, and about 200 received an associate’s degree.