Dual credit in Texas community colleges: A quantitative analysis of the relationship between grades and course subject, location, and faculty type

The number of high school students taking college courses, a concept referred to as dual credit, has grown immensely in recent years with well over 1,000,000 high school students nationwide and almost 100,000 high school students in Texas enrolled in college courses each fall. Dual credit has many positive outcomes, such as encouraging students to pursue a college degree, allowing better use of the senior year of high school, and exposing students to what it is like to attend college. Dual credit also provides a way to reduce the time it takes to earn a college degree and to save money on the cost of college. When secondary and postsecondary institutions work together to provide dual credit opportunities, these entities better align their purposes. Another advantage of dual credit is that students who may be at risk of failure can benefit from exposure to postsecondary education. Once dual credit students enter college after high school graduation, research indicates that GPA, persistence, and degree attainment are all positively impacted by participation in dual credit.

While there are benefits to dual credit programs, concerns also exist. Students may be unsuccessful and begin college with a poor record before they even exit high school or may fail to meet high school graduation requirements if the course is for both high school and college credit. The quality of courses taught on high school campuses may not match the quality of courses taught on college campuses. The appropriate level of student learning may not take place if the focus is simply on credit accumulation and not on learning outcomes.

With such a large population of Texas high school students participating in college, it is clear that access to dual credit courses is widespread in the state. However, it is important that dual credit practitioners address concerns about poor student performance and quality of courses. Various researchers have noted that more research on course-level outcomes is needed.

The purpose of this quantitative non-experimental study was to examine how course subject, location of course, and faculty type relate to student performance in dual credit courses as measured by grades. A sample of 2,016 dual credit records were analyzed from three community colleges located in the Upper East region of Texas. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to address the three research questions.

The first research question analyzed the impact on course grades of dual credit course subject. The findings of the study revealed that the largest enrollments of dual credit students at the three study institutions were in English, history, and government. The highest course grades were seen in speech and the lowest grades were in history. The results of the ANOVA test indicated that there was a statistically significant difference between course grade and course subject. Post hoc testing identified that there were significant differences between course grades in: 1) English composition and government, 2) English composition and history, 3) government and math, 4) government and psychology, 5) government and speech, 6) history and math, 7) history and psychology, and 8) history and speech.

The second research question analyzed the impact of location of course taught on grades. The ANOVA test revealed that a statistically significant difference existed between course grade and course location. Post hoc testing identified that there were significant differences between grades in courses taught on the college campus and those taught on the high school campus and online.

The third research question analyzed the impact on course grade of faculty type (full-time versus part-time). The findings indicated that a statistically significant difference existed between full and part-time faculty, with students performing better in dual credit courses taught by part-time faculty.

The findings of this study have implications and recommendations for higher education practitioners in order to promote maximum student success, both during and after high school. Community colleges need to utilize their partnerships with high schools to collaborate on evaluating performance of dual credit students in various course subjects. Higher education practitioners need to analyze which course locations promote student success and provide dual credit opportunities for high school students on the high school campus and online that are comparable to courses taken on the college campus. Higher education practitioners need to ensure, through professional development and monitoring, that part-time faculty maintain the same rigor and expectations that are present in courses taught by full-time faculty.

Finally, further research is needed to explore the performance of high school students in college classes. This study should be replicated using data from institutions with different demographic and geographic characteristics than the three study institutions. The study should also be replicated using workforce education courses. In addition, this study should be extended to include student demographic characteristics, determining if faculty teaching dual credit courses are also employed as high school teachers, and student grade level at the time the dual credit course is taken.