Dual Enrollment/Dual Credit: Its Role in Career Pathways

Dual enrollment provides several incentives for Career Pathway students to do well in high school and transition to college after high school graduation: By enrolling in college courses while still in high school, students who have already completed their graduation requirements do not waste time in their senior year; high school juniors and seniors have an opportunity to experience a different environment in which they are treated more like adults, and they discover that they can compete at the college level; they discover early whether they have deficiencies that might prevent college entrance and have an opportunity to correct those deficiencies; and they have an opportunity to earn up to one year of college credits by the time they graduate from high school. This chapter explains the differences between articulation (which is predominant in typical Tech Prep consortia) and dual enrollment and argues that most Tech Prep consortia could improve student incentives and opportunities by converting from articulation to dual enrollment. This chapter appeared in Career Pathways: Education With a Purpose, edited by Dan Hull.