Dual Credit: An Initial Study Exploring the Transition from High School to Higher Education

Abstract

Dual credit courses are used to recruit high school students by offering college level credit in classes they take during their high school experience. For this study, the subjects consisted of freshmen students attending a mid-sized regional Tennessee university. This research explores the transition of students’ successes in terms of their continued education once they begin their college level classes at an institution of higher learning. More specifically, this research examines the academic level of achievement of dual credit students’ first semester out of high school as compared to their academic level of achievement upon entering with dual credit coursework.