Roughly one-fifth (20.4%) of public community college enrollment consisted of students still in high school in the 2022-23 academic year, according to newly released data from the U.S. Education Department (ED).
For the first time, the National Center for Education Statistics collected data through the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) on students taking credit courses in postsecondary education while still enrolled in high school. (This article will use the term “dual-enrolled” for these students, though some students may not be in formal dual-enrollment programs. Also, since this is the first year the data are reported, some caution should be used in interpreting them.)
In the 2022-23 academic year, there were nearly 2.5 million dual-enrolled students reported in IPEDS. Nearly three-fourths (73.5%, or 1.8 million students) attended public community colleges. Another 16.3% attended public four-year institutions, and 8.2% attended private, not-for-profit four-year institutions.
Figure 1 shows the percent of total academic year 2022-23 enrollment who are dual-enrolled students. While approximately 20% of public community college students were dual-enrolled, only 6% were dual-enrolled in public four-year colleges and 6.2% in private, not-for-profit colleges. In public community colleges, males were more likely to be dual-enrolled students (21.2% compared to 19.9%). On average, White students are more likely to be dual-enrolled than students of other racial/ethnic backgrounds. As shown in Figure 2 below, 23.7% of White students enrolled in public community colleges were still in high school, compared to only 13.5% of Black/African American students.
Hispanic participation rates were also significantly lower, with 16.5% of Hispanic students being dual-enrolled.
State policies are key drivers of dual enrollment as well. Over half of all students enrolled in public community colleges in Idaho and Indiana are still in high school, while in Rhode Island it is only 6.3%. (See Figure 3.)
