Access, Supports, and Performance in Dual Enrollment: A COVID-19 Case’s Implications for Equity

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Pentious

Dual enrollment is widely used to expand college access and success, yet persistent racial/ethnic and socioeconomic inequalities complicate claims of equity. Using trends in student performance before COVID-19 and during COVID-19-impacted years in a hybrid dual enrollment program, the study evaluates how programmatic changes affected outcomes. Results show improved performance during the pandemic, alongside widening inequalities across groups, motivating further research on equitable interventions and targeted supports in broad-access dual enrollment.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages17

Reading Time43 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Dual enrollment and persistent inequalities

Evidence on impacts and remaining uncertainty

Study purpose and research gap

AERA Open January-December 2025, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 1–17 DOI: 10. 1177/23328584251327161 Article reuse guidelines: [sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)© The Author(s) 2025. [https://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero](https://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero) Access, Supports, and Performance in Dual Enrollment: A COVID-19 Case’s Implications for Equity Matt S. Giani Shruti Khandekar Jennifer Porter University of Texas at Austin Dual enrollment (DE) courses are a prominent strategy for promoting college access and success, but racial/ethnic and socioeconomic inequalities in participation remain stark. DEprograms that broaden access may need to deploy strategies that provide targeted support and interventions to specific populations of students. However, whether DE programmatic elements are conducive to equity is unknown. In this study, we analyzed trends in student performance before COVID-19 and in COVID-19-impacted years in a hybrid DEprogram that made programmatic changes during the pandemic. We found that student performance in these DE courses improved during the pandemic, suggesting that modifications the program made may have benefited student performance overall, but racial/ethnic and socioeconomic inequalities also widened during this time. These results suggest the need for future research and reform on equitable interventions and support in broad-access DE courses. Keywords: achievement gap, equity, high schools, instructional technologies, postsecondary education, regression analyses, longitudinal analysis, dual enrollment, dual credit, curriculum, advanced coursework, access, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status Introduction College enrollment and completion rates continue to increase, but inequalities in college attainment persist (National Center for Education Statistics, 2024). Among youth aged 25– 29 years in 1980, 25% of White young adults held a bachelor’s degree or higher, more than twice the rate of Black young adults (12%) and three times the rate of Hispanic youth (8%) . By 2022, the baccalaureate attainment for Black and Hispanic young adults had climbed to 28% and 25%, respectively, but the attainment rate for White youth had increased to 46% . Thus, while proportional racial/ethnic gaps in baccalaureate attainment have shrunk, they are growing in real terms. Similarly, although the college enrollment rates of low-socioeconomic-status (low-SES) students have increased, roughly two thirds of high-SES high school sophomores earned a bachelor’s degree within 8 years of graduating high school compared with fewer than one sixth of low-SES students (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2024) . The COVID- 19 pandemic further widened inequalities in college enrollment and retention, exacerbating concerns about our nation’s ability to prepare students from all backgrounds to succeed in higher education (National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, 2021) . Against this backdrop, dual enrollment (DE) courses, which allow high school students to enroll in college-level courses for both high school and college credit, have become one of the most prominent strategies for preparing students for success in college (NCES, 2013, 2019) . More than 80% of high schools offer students the opportunity to take DE courses, and roughly one third of students complete at least one DE course in high school (NCES, 2019, 2020) . DE has been increasingly prioritized through federal and state policy, including the Every Student Succeeds Act, the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V), and state accountability and funding policies that incentivize DE participation (Jamieson et al., 2022) . Although a growing body of research has found that participation in DE courses is positively associated with a range of postsecondary education outcomes (Allen & Dadgar, 2012; An, 2013a, 2013b; An & Taylor,

FAQs

What issue does the study focus on regarding dual enrollment?

It examines whether program changes in a dual enrollment setting are conducive to equity despite persistent racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in participation and outcomes.

How was student performance analyzed in the study?

The study analyzed trends in student performance both before COVID-19 and during COVID-19-impacted years in a hybrid dual enrollment program that implemented changes during the pandemic.

What were the main findings about performance and inequalities?

Student performance in dual enrollment courses improved during the pandemic, but racial/ethnic and socioeconomic inequalities also widened during that period.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Pentious