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Dual-enrolled high school students are closing in on accounting for nearly half of Colorado’s community college enrollment, according to fall 2024 enrollment data.
Of the 88,118 students enrolled at the two-year level, more than 39,000 students statewide are still in high school, the Colorado Community College System reports. The share of dual-enrolled students has steadily increased each year. Nationally, about 1 in 5 community college students are dual enrolled, according to 2022-23 numbers.
In light of the increases and the variety of the state’s concurrent enrollment system — where high school students enroll in college classes — Colorado lawmakers and other education advocates want more information on the long-term benefit of these programs as well as the overall costs to the state. Lawmakers have passed laws that call for studying how to streamline and improve a system that has been built piecemeal over the years.
In total, high school students accounted for almost 90% of enrollment increases at the community college level this year. Since the pandemic, high school students have become a main driver of community college enrollment in the state.
The numbers were climbing even before 2020 amid greater emphasis on exposing students to college-level work, said Sarah Heath, system vice chancellor of academic and student affairs.
“We really have focused on the value of high school plus,” Heath said. “That has resonated.”
About 3,100 new students enrolled this year in Colorado community colleges, with a 2,770 increase in high school students, according to October numbers.
Among students who are beyond high school, enrollment ticked up only slightly. These older adult students traditionally represented the bulk of community college enrollment, but colleges have had more trouble enrolling them since the pandemic.
“We haven’t had much growth” in that segment, Heath said, “except for some online pieces.”
Nationally, community colleges fared better than public four-year universities in enrollment in part because of the number of high school students who are also enrolled in public two-year colleges.
National numbers show a 7% increase in the number of students under the age of 17 who are dual-enrolled this fall over last year.
Here’s a closer look at the changing face of Colorado’s two-year colleges:
What do we know (and not know) about the students?
The majority of high school students take college classes part-time, or less than 12 credits. This has led to an increase in part-time students at colleges.
Of the 88,118 community college students enrolled this year, including high school students, only 22,715 enrolled full-time.
Many high school students also likely never set foot on a college campus thanks to the increase in high school teachers who are certified to teach college-level courses, according to Heath.
By the time students graduate from high school, they’ve typically earned only a few college credits. Still, state leaders have said that this helps offset the overall cost of a college education for them. A state report estimated from 2020 data that graduates saved about $53 million in tuition through these opportunities.
The new community college enrollment data doesn’t break down figures for overall high school student diversity, but past reports show these programs are mostly representative of the state’s K-12 ethnic and racial makeup. About half of all students in 2021 were white, a quarter were Hispanic, and about 3.5% were Black.
The report did not include information on how the programs benefit lower-income students in the state, or those students who would benefit the most financially from these programs.
Where are students dual-enrolled?
Most dual-enrolled high school students live on the Front Range in urban and suburban communities, although many rural districts have a higher percentage of their students participating in programs.
In total, Colorado has 561 cooperative agreements between school districts and two- and four-year colleges. Only two districts in the state do not participate in dual enrollment.
Of the two-year colleges, Front Range and Arapahoe community colleges have some of the highest numbers of district partnerships. Those colleges enroll almost 25,000 high school students, or about 62% of the dual-enrolled student population.
The highest participation rates are in rural districts such as in Crowley, Edison, and Silverton, where more than 70% of high school students are dual enrolled.
Who pays for dual enrollment?
In most cases, the districts and state pay for the cost of offering these programs.
Programs like ASCENT, where students attend college in their fifth year of high school but also get support from their districts, now require students to fill out the FAFSA so they’re eligible for Pell grants, or federal aid to students from lower-income backgrounds. The Pell grants then offset the cost of college incurred by the state. This year, the state is projected to spend about $17 million to educate about 1,200 ASCENT students.
Most partnerships between the community colleges and districts are structured to be cost neutral, so community colleges only charge for services to support dual enrollment, Heath said. But districts must hire staff, provide classes, and support students.
Nationally, some have wondered whether these programs are the best use of state funds. For example, education advocates have questioned whether states are just subsidizing college for students who would already plan to go.
Research shows that in Colorado, fewer dual-enrolled students — about two-thirds of them — end up on a college campus after they graduate from high school, compared with most other states. It’s not entirely clear why, but the number decreases if students are from lower-income backgrounds, according to the Community College Research Center.
What do lawmakers want to change?
Colorado lawmakers say they recognize the value of dual enrollment, especially because national research shows these programs can help eliminate gaps in who gets to college. But they also want more information on the state’s many programs.
A state task force has called for streamlining what it has described as a fragmented early career and college system built over many years. Colorado has numerous programs, but not every district offers every program.
Each program has different reporting requirements, making it hard to measure how programs are working individually and as a whole. Colorado lawmakers enacted legislation this year that:
- Directs the state to perform a comprehensive financial study to analyze how much the programs cost the state and districts;
- Compiles long-term data on program outcomes;
- Expands college opportunities for high school students; and
- Seeks to find a comprehensive direction on college and career education.
Jason Gonzales is a reporter covering higher education and the Colorado legislature. Chalkbeat Colorado partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage. Contact Jason at jgonzales@chalkbeat.org.
