High school students use dual enrollment programs to earn college credits.

High school students are taking advantage of programs to earn college credits, according to two new reports by the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics.

Commenting on the results of the studies on which the reports are based, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings said: "We are pleased to see more high school students pursuing dual enrollment opportunities, and the results in these reports underscore the significance of President Bush's $125 million proposal to increase access to dual enrollment for at-risk students. The president's plan would give grants to help states create dual enrollment programs, scholarships and other activities so that high school students may earn college credits."

"Dual Enrollment of High School Students at Postsecondary Institutions: 2002-03" found that more than half of all colleges and universities in the nation enrolled high school students in courses for college credit, commonly called "dual enrollment," during the 2002-03 academic year, which translates into about 813,000 or about 5 percent of high school students.

The second report, "Dual Credit and Exam-Based Courses in U.S. Public High Schools: 2002-03," found that 71 percent of public high schools offered programs in which students earned credit at both the high school and college levels for the same course, known as "dual credit." In addition, 67 percent of public high schools offered Advanced Placement (AP) courses, while 2 percent offered International Baccalaureate (IB) courses. During the 2002-03 school year, there were an estimated 1.2 million enrollments in courses for dual credit, 1.8 million enrollments in AP courses, and 165,000 enrollments in IB courses. If a student was enrolled in multiple courses, schools counted the student for each course in which he or she was enrolled. Thus, enrollments may include duplicated counts of students.

"These two studies provide further credible evidence that we need to do all we can to ensure that all students, and especially those who need our help the most, have more opportunities to further their education after high school," Spellings said. "The president's budget proposal to increase Pell Grants and the $1.5 billion High School Initiative will help these efforts tremendously."

The High School Initiative is designed to prepare high school students to graduate with the skills they need to succeed* The program will allow states and districts to use the funding for individual performance plans, dropout prevention efforts, demanding vocational and technical courses, college awareness and more.

Other highlights of the report on dual enrollment at postsecondary institutions include:

Of the 57 percent of postsecondary institutions that had high school students who took college courses during the 2002-03 academic year, 85 percent had high school students taking them in dual enrollment programs, and 55 percent had students who simply enrolled in college courses and were treated as regular college students.

About 98 percent of public two-year institutions had high school students taking college courses during the 2002-03 academic year, compared to 77 percent of public 4-year institutions, 40 percent of private four-year institutions and 17 percent of private two-year institutions.

Among the estimated 2,050 institutions with dual enrollment programs, about 110, or 5 percent, had dual enrollment programs specifically geared toward high school students at risk of education failure. This represents about 2 percent of all institutions.

Some 20 percent of institutions with dual enrollment programs indicated that students and parents generally paid full tuition for college courses taken in these programs. Another 20 percent said that students and parents generally paid partial tuition, 23 percent said that students and parents generally paid for books and/or fees only, and 19 percent said that students and parents generally paid nothing for courses.

Other highlights of the report on dual credit and exam-based courses at public high schools include:

Larger public high schools were more likely than smaller ones to offer dual credit and/or Advanced Placement courses. Specifically, 63 percent of small schools, 75 percent of medium-sized schools and 82 percent of large schools offered courses for dual credit. Similarly, 40 percent of small schools, 82 percent of medium-sized schools and 97 percent of large schools offered AP courses.

Of the public high schools that offered courses for dual credit, 61 percent indicated that the courses were taught on a high school campus, 65 percent on the campus of a postsecondary institution and 25 percent through distance education technologies. Schools could offer these courses at more than one location.

Of the schools that offered courses for dual credit on a high school campus or on the campus of a postsecondary institution, 92 percent indicated that the courses had an academic focus, and 51 percent reported that the courses had a career and technical/vocational focus.

For those schools Offering dual credit courses through distance education, smaller public high schools were more likely than larger high schools to offer them through this means (35 percent of small schools, 21 percent of medium schools and 17 percent of large schools). High schools in rural areas and schools in towns were both more likely than either schools in cities or schools in urban fringe areas to offer courses for dual credit through distance education (33 and 29 percent vs. 11 and 18 percent, respectively).

Information for this article was provided by the US Department of Education.