Dual Enrollment Programs Specifically for Students at Risk of Education Failure

Some postsecondary institutions have developed programs for at-risk students as a way of promoting high school retention as well as enthusiasm for education among a population of students at risk of complete withdrawal from the education system. Institutions with dual enrollment programs were asked whether they had a formal dual enrollment program geared specifically toward high school students who were at risk of education failure. If there was a dual enrollment program for at-risk high school students, institutions were then asked about features of that program, such as the number of students in the program, the primary focus of the program, the typical pattern of enrollments, and any extra support services provided to the at-risk students.

• Among the estimated 2,050 institutions with dual enrollment programs, approximately 110 (5 percent) had dual enrollment programs specifically geared toward high school students at risk of education failure (table 17). Two percent of all institutions had such programs.
• During the 2002–03 12-month academic year, there were approximately 6,400 students enrolled in dual enrollment programs geared specifically toward high school students at risk of education failure (not shown in tables).¹⁵
• Thirty-nine percent of institutions with dual enrollment programs geared toward students at risk of education failure reported that the primary focus of the program was career/technical (figure 4). Thirty-four percent said that the primary focus was academic, and 21 percent said that the primary focus was equally academic and career/technical. Six percent reported some other primary focus.
• Forty percent of institutions with dual enrollment programs for at-risk students indicated that the most common pattern of enrollments in such programs was one course per academic term, 14 percent reported two courses per academic term, 8 percent reported three or more courses per academic term, and 38 percent reported that the number of courses students took varied considerably (figure 5).
• Sixty percent of institutions with programs for at-risk students provided extra support services specifically for the students in the program, such as tutoring, academic advising, study skills workshops, and precollege counseling (not shown in tables).¹⁶
• Of those institutions with programs for at-risk students that provided extra support services, 84 percent provided academic advising, 82 percent provided tutoring, 76 percent provided study skills workshops, 75 percent offered college application/selection counseling, 62 percent offered financial aid counseling, and 38 percent offered other support services (figure 6). Mentoring and career counseling were commonly cited as other support services.

¹⁵ Standard error = 1,110.

¹⁶ Standard error = 8.4. Respondents were asked to include only those support services beyond those usually provided to students taking courses through their institution.

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