a jumpstart on college credit - Dual enrollment and AP participation in Wisconsin high schools

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Melati

A report examines dual enrollment participation among Wisconsin high school students and its growth during the 2023-24 academic year. It analyzes student counts across University of Wisconsin and Wisconsin Technical College systems and uses public school report card data for 551 high schools. Dual enrollment availability varies by school size, locale, and student economic status, while Advanced Placement rates are discussed together because report cards combine AP and IB participation.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages4

Reading Time10 min

AccessFree to download

Dual enrollment participation growth

Statewide participation and record enrollment

Differences between UW and WTCS systems

Data sources and reporting limitations

Public versus private data availability

Integration of postsecondary preparation programs

AP and IB relationship

How credit is awarded through exam performance

School-level participation patterns

Prevalence of dual enrollment and AP across high schools

Variation by size and locale

Variation by poverty and student economic status

a jumpstart on college credit More Wisconsin high school students than ever before are participating in dual enrollment programs that offer them both high school and college credit. Many see these programs as a way to accelerate students into the job market while reducing their tuition costs. Dual enrollment opportunities have a wide reach across Wisconsin, but their availability is not yet consistent across all schools, leaving some students with fewer opportunities. The number of Wisconsin high school students who participate in dual enrollment programs continued its decade-long growth in the 2023-24 academic year, hitting a new record. A combined 78,703 students participated in the dual enrollment programs offered by the University of Wisconsin and Wisconsin Technical College systems, through which they could earn credit at higher education institutions as well as their high schools. This represents more than a quarter (26 . 6%) of the state’s secondary students across public, private, and home schools, and it is a 3.4% increase over the previous year (see Figure 1) . The Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS) offers the largest dual enrollment program in the state, enrolling more than four times as many students as the one operated through the University of Wisconsin System (UW) . From 2022-23 to 2023-24 (referred to in this brief as 2023 and 2024), however, the UW program grew at a faster rate – by 12.0% to 15,588 students – than the WTCS program, which increased by 1.5% to 63,115 students. Both systems offer an array of programs to meet the various needs of high school students, which sometimes results in similar, parallel programs in each system. In this analysis, individuals who took classes in both systems are counted twice but are unduplicated if they participated in multiple programs within one system. Data from Public Schools The student counts in this report come from Wisconsin’s public university and technical college systems and the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction’s school report cards for traditional public and charter schools. Aggregated data from private colleges and high schools were not publicly available. However, the counts from the public colleges include students from private high schools, and the public high school reports include participants in programs offered by private colleges. In our previous report on dual enrollment, we examined participation in the programs using data provided by the state’s two public college systems. Since then, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction has added postsecondary preparation programs to its annual report cards for high schools. These programs, which include dual enrollment and Advanced Placement (AP), equip students for higher education or the workforce. With this new information, we are now able to examine participation levels by high school in dual enrollment and other postsecondary opportunities. Advanced Placement is not a dual enrollment program, but because it also exposes high school students to college level material, the programs are often discussed together. The AP program is a nationwide system in which students take courses to prepare for end-of-year standardized tests in various subjects. Based on the scores of those exams, colleges may grant students college credit when they enroll. The AP participation rates on the school report cards also include those who participate in International Baccalaureate (IB), another rigorous pre-college program. The AP program is much more prevalent in Wisconsin schools than IB, and schools usually do not have both. In this brief, any reference to the AP rate also includes IB participation, as the two cannot be separated based on the information provided in the school report cards. school participation rates To understand dual enrollment and AP participation trends across Wisconsin, we analyzed information from school report cards for 551 high schools that reported on po

FAQs

How many Wisconsin students participated in dual enrollment in 2023-24?

In 2023-24, 78,703 Wisconsin high school students participated in dual enrollment programs offered by the University of Wisconsin and Wisconsin Technical College systems.

Which system enrolls more dual enrollment students in Wisconsin?

The Wisconsin Technical College System enrolls more students overall, with more than four times the enrollment compared with the University of Wisconsin System.

What factors influence whether a school offers dual enrollment?

Offer rates are higher in larger schools and vary by locale and poverty levels; schools with lower proportions of economically disadvantaged students were more likely to offer dual enrollment.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Melati