Colorado 11th- and 12th-graders increasingly are taking advantage of dual-enrollment programs that let them take college courses tuition-free while still in high school, according to a Colorado Department of Education and Higher Education report.
Almost 30 percent of all 35,713 Colorado high school juniors and seniors participated in some form of dual-enrollment program during the 2014-15 school year, which is up 15 percent from the previous year, the report said.
“Our participating colleges and universities continue to see that students participating in these programs are more likely to enroll and progress through college,” said Beth Bean, chief research officer at the Colorado Department of Higher Education.
Here’s what you should know about the double dose of learning state education experts are calling a success.
What’s dual and what’s concurrent?
• Concurrent enrollment refers specifically to statewide programs of simultaneous high school and college courses created under 2009 Colorado legislation.
• Dual enrollment refers to the broad assortment of programs that offer the same service but weren’t created under the legislation.
• Both offer high school students tuition-free college courses, although additional fees such as textbooks can apply depending on the program.
By the numbers
• Statewide, 94 percent of school districts and 84 percent of high schools offer concurrent-enrollment programs.
• Participation in dual enrollment is associated with a 23 percent increase in the likelihood of enrolling in college and a 10 percent decrease in the need for remediation.
• In the 2014-2015 school year, 93 percent of the concurrent enrollment hours taken by students were passed.
• More than 1,200 students in concurrent enrollment programs earned some type of postsecondary credential in 2014-2015.
Who’s enrolling and where?
• Denver Public Schools had the most students participating in concurrent enrollment by headcount with 2,848 students.
• Karval RE-23 School District — a rural district about 80 miles east of Colorado Springs — had the highest percentage of students participating in concurrent enrollment out of all Colorado school districts with 100 percent of its students involved.
• Arapahoe Community College and the Community College of Aurora are the two-year institutions that served the most students in the last academic year with 3,614 students and 3,339 students, respectively.
• The University of Denver served the most dual-enrollment students out of the four-year institutions with 4,878 students.
• Grandview High School in the Cherry Creek School District reported the largest number of students — 627 — partaking in concurrent enrollment.
• Participation in concurrent-enrollment programs increased 26 percent among Hispanic students, 30 percent among African-American students and 39 percent among American Indian and Alaskan Native students.
Elizabeth Hernandez: 303-954-1223 or @ehernandez
