2025 Dual Enrollment Special Report
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Dual enrollment is an educational program that provides high school students with access to take college-level coursework and earn college credit. Participation in dual enrollment can help students improve their academic readiness and increase their chances of success in college. In this report, NSWERS describes the status of dual enrollment in Nebraska and the impacts of dual enrollment participation on high school and college educational outcomes.
Why This Matters
Data on the accessibility and impacts of dual enrollment participation are needed to understand whether dual enrollment is worthwhile for both high school students and the providers and funders of dual enrollment programs. The findings of this report serve as a valuable resource for Nebraska educators, policymakers, and stakeholders, providing data-driven support for informed decision making.
Key Takeaways
- Growing Participation: Dual enrollment participation has increased significantly over time. In the 2022 cohort, 33% of students participated, up from 26% in the 2016 cohort.
- College Credit Accumulation: On average, dual enrollment participants in the 2022 cohort earned over 12 semester hours of college credit, equivalent to one full-time semester of college. This marks an increase from about 9 semester hours in the 2016 cohort.
- High School Graduation: Those who participated in dual enrollment were 4 percentage points more likely to graduate high school on time than they would have been without participation.
- College Enrollment: Dual enrollment participants were 10 percentage points more likely to enroll in college within 16 months of high school graduation than they would have been otherwise.
- College Persistence: Among Nebraska-based institutions, dual enrollment participants had higher persistence rates than they would have without participation—9 percentage points higher at two-year colleges and 4 percentage points higher at four-year colleges.
- Postsecondary Graduation: Within six years of high school graduation, dual enrollment participants were 13 percentage points more likely to earn a postsecondary credential than they would have without participation.
These findings underscore the positive impact of dual enrollment on students’ academic pathways, reinforcing the role of dual enrollment programs in fostering higher education attainment and workforce readiness in Nebraska.
How We Did It
This report utilizes data from the NSWERS Data System, encompassing details on public high school course-taking from the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE), alongside college enrollment information from Nebraska’s public postsecondary institutions and the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC). Dual enrollment participation is determined by noting college courses completed by students during their high school years. The impact of dual enrollment on educational outcomes was assessed using generalized full matching, a statistical method that derives estimates of causal effects from observational data. This approach establishes a quasi-control group, enabling an evaluation of dual enrollment’s influence on educational outcomes, separate from other differences between participants and non-participants. Further methodological details are available in the supplemental Technical Documentation.