Dual Enrollment and AP Courses Yield Positive Outcomes

"Researchers found that students who combined Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate courses with dual-enrollment courses boasted higher completion rates and earnings than their peers. Of these students, 92 percent enrolled in or completed a credential a year after high school, and 71 percent earned a credential by year six. These students also showed the strongest earnings outcomes in their early 20s. They earned $10,306 per quarter on average at age 24,"

"Students who combined dual enrollment with career and technical education-who made up just 5 percent of students in the study-also reaped positive outcomes later in life. These students earned $9,746 per quarter on average by age 24, compared to $8,097 per quarter on average for students with only a CTE focus. "Most dual-enrollment students in Texas also take other accelerated courses, and those who do tend to have stronger college and earnings trajectories," CCRC senior research associate Tatiana Velasco said in a press release."

Administrative data from Texas covering cohorts expected to graduate high school in 2015-16, 2016-17, 2019-20, and 2022-23 were used to compare outcomes by accelerated coursework combinations. Students who combined AP or IB courses with dual-enrollment had higher postsecondary credential attainment and stronger early-career earnings than peers who took only one accelerated pathway. Of combined AP/IB and dual-enrollment students, 92 percent enrolled in or completed a credential a year after high school and 71 percent earned a credential by year six. Combining dual enrollment with CTE also improved earnings compared with CTE alone, though combined AP/IB and dual-enrollment students were less racially and socioeconomically diverse.

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