Characteristics of Courses for Dual Credit

Dual credit courses vary greatly with regard to a number of characteristics, including whether (1) they are offered individually ("cafeteria style") or in a sequence of courses, (2) they are taught by high school instructors and/or postsecondary instructors, (3) they serve only public high school students or a mixture of public high school students and postsecondary students, and (4) the postsecondary credit is awarded immediately upon course completion or is held in escrow until after the student graduates from public high school and attends a specific postsecondary institution.

Course Structure

In addition to dual credit course location or focus, high schools reported whether students could select courses for dual credit cafeteria style, whereby students selected individual courses from a wide range of courses for which prerequisites were met, and whether students could select the courses for dual credit as part of a sequence, such as a series of courses in a specific content area, such as math, history, nursing, or automotive technology. Respondents could offer these courses both ways.

Sequence of Courses

• Among high schools offering dual credit courses on their campus, 53 percent of those offering courses with an academic focus and 72 percent of those offering courses with a career and technical/vocational focus indicated that some or all of these courses were offered as part of a sequence (table 10).
   
• Similarly, among schools offering dual credit courses on the campus of a postsecondary institution, 53 percent of those offering courses with an academic focus and 72 percent of those offering courses with a career and technical/vocational focus reported that some or all of these courses were offered as part of a sequence (table 10).
   
• Among schools that offered dual credit courses with an academic focus on a high school campus, 59 percent of schools located in towns reported offering some or all of these courses as part of a sequence, compared with 42 percent of schools located in cities (table 10).
   
• Among schools that offered dual credit courses with an academic focus on a postsecondary institution's campus, a greater proportion of schools located in urban fringe areas than in cities offered some or all of these courses as part of a sequence (60 vs. 46 percent, respectively) (table 10).

Cafeteria Style Courses

• Among schools that offered dual credit courses taught on a high school campus, 35 percent of those offering courses with an academic focus reported that some or all of these courses were offered cafeteria style, while 41 percent of those offering courses with a career and technical/vocational focus indicated that some or all of these courses were offered cafeteria style (table 11).
   
• Among public high schools reporting that they offered dual credit courses taught on the campus of a postsecondary institution, 68 percent of those that offered dual credit courses with an academic focus and 59 percent of those that offered courses with a career and technical/vocational focus indicated that some or all of these courses were offered cafeteria style (table 11).
   
• Of the schools that offered career and technical/vocational dual credit courses taught on a high school campus, fewer schools located in cities (29 percent) reported that some or all of these courses were offered cafeteria style, compared with 50 percent in urban fringe areas and 44 percent in towns (table 11). In addition, schools in the Southeast region offering career and technical/vocational dual credit courses on a high school campus were less likely to indicate that some or all of these courses were offered cafeteria style than were schools in the other regions (25 vs. 42 to 46 percent).
   
• Of the schools that offered career and technical/vocational dual credit courses taught on the campus of a postsecondary institution, schools in the Northeast were more likely to report that some or all of these courses were offered cafeteria style than were schools in all other regions (100 vs. 55 to 59 percent) (table 11).

Course Instructors

Public high schools indicating that they offered dual credit courses taught on their high school campus were asked to specify whether these courses were taught by high school instructors only, postsecondary instructors only, or both high school and postsecondary instructors.⁶ Most dual credit courses taught on a high school campus were taught by high school instructors only, regardless of the educational focus of the dual credit courses.

• Of the schools that offered academic courses for dual credit taught on a high school campus, 64 percent indicated that these courses were taught solely by high school instructors, 24 percent reported that both high school and postsecondary instructors taught the courses, and 11 percent stated that the courses were taught only by postsecondary instructors (table 12).
   
• For schools that offered career and technical/vocational courses for dual credit taught on a high school campus, 76 percent indicated that these courses were taught by high school instructors only, 12 percent of schools reported that the courses were taught by both high school and postsecondary instructors, and 12 percent reported that the courses were taught by postsecondary instructors only (table 12).

Student Composition

Schools that offered dual credit courses taught on the campus of a postsecondary institution were asked to indicate whether the most common student composition in these courses was high school students only or a combination of high school students and postsecondary students. The most common student composition for dual credit courses taught on the campus of a postsecondary institution was a mix of both high school and postsecondary students, regardless of the educational focus.

• Of the schools that offered academic dual credit courses on a postsecondary campus, 82 percent reported that these courses enrolled both high school and postsecondary students, while 18 percent reported enrolling high school students only (table 13).
   
• Similarly, of the schools that offered career and technical/vocational dual credit courses on a postsecondary campus, 78 percent reported that these courses contained both high school and postsecondary students, while 22 percent reported they contained high school students only (table 13).

Awarding of Postsecondary Credit

There are two primary ways in which postsecondary credit for dual credit courses is awarded. The credit can be awarded immediately upon completion of the dual credit course, or it can be held in escrow until the student has graduated from public high school and enrolls in a specific postsecondary institution that accepts the credit. Students taking courses for dual credit were most commonly awarded postsecondary credit immediately upon completion of the course, regardless of course location or educational focus.

• Among schools that offered academic dual credit courses on a high school campus, 86 percent awarded postsecondary credits to their students immediately and 15 percent held credits in escrow. Sixty-one percent of schools offering career and technical/vocational dual credit courses reported immediate award of credits and 41 percent reported holding credits in escrow (table 14).
   
• Among schools that offered academic dual credit courses taught on the campus of a postsecondary institution, 91 percent awarded postsecondary credits to their students immediately and 10 percent held credits in escrow. Eighty-six percent of schools offering career and technical/vocational dual credit courses reported immediate award of credits and 18 percent of schools reported holding credits in escrow (table 14).
   
• Schools that offered courses for dual credit on a high school campus or on the campus of a postsecondary institution were more likely to report that the postsecondary credit was awarded immediately rather than held in escrow, regardless of course location or focus. However, the percentage point difference between schools that offered postsecondary credit immediately and those that held it in escrow was smaller for dual credit courses with a career and technical/vocational focus taught on a high school campus than for any other dual credit course location or focus (20 percentage point difference vs. 68 to 81 percentage point difference) (table 14 and figure 5).

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⁶ Information about course instructors was not collected for dual credit courses taught at a postsecondary institution, because research during survey development indicated that these courses are almost always taught by postsecondary faculty.

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