Dual Enrollment Participants’ Attainment of an Associate’s Degree from the College in which they Participated in Dual Enrollment as Compared to Nonparticipants’ Attainment

ABSTRACT

In response to the national call for more college degrees, many states have implemented dual enrollment programs to try to decrease the transition anxiety between high school and college. The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a significant difference in the number of students completing an Associate’s degree from the college in which they participated in dual enrollment when comparing students who participated in a dual enrollment program to students who did not participate. The sample consisted of 320 students: 160 students who participated in dual enrollment in the fall and spring semesters of 2010 and 2011, and a comparative group of 160 students who did not participate in dual enrollment. A Chi-square test for independence revealed that students who participated in the dual enrollment program were less likely to complete the Associate of Arts or Associate of Applied Science degrees at the target community college.