The Data Behind High School Dual Enrollment
The data are nascent, but it appears that roughly half of recent undergrad enrollment gains come from high schools students in dual enrollment programs
Phil Hill
January 20, 2026
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Morgan wrote an excellent post yesterday at On Student Success (subscribe here if you haven’t already), with the initial section on High School Dual Enrollment (HSDE).
In a recent newsletter, I wrote about an [American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers] AACRAO report that criticized the way dual enrollment is often approached at U.S. colleges and universities. Dual enrollment (DE), the practice of allowing high school students to enroll in credit-bearing college courses, is becoming an increasingly important part of overall enrollment, and of community college enrollment in particular. Today, DE accounts for roughly 12% of all undergraduate enrollments and a striking 21% of community college enrollments.
Her post then describes analysis from both AACRAO and CCRC on how we need to think about HSDE differently, both in design and business models, with Morgan adding her notes to frame dual enrollment as an upstream investment in student success.
Read her whole post (and the links) for the student success angle.
Relationship to Enrollment Gains
But this view also aligns with questions I have received about the latest IPEDS enrollment data, along the lines of “how much of the enrollment gains over the past few years are explained by HSDE instead of organic growth?”
As we have noted several times, this question is important as HSDE places a structural risk on colleges and universities. The business model / financials are different, and as Morgan notes, the support and framing around student success are different. Simply bundling HSDE growth into overall enrollment gains can hide some core challenges to address, even if the numbers are growing (for now).