FRANKFORT, Ky. — More Kentucky students are taking advantage of dual enrollment courses, which gives students both high school and college credit at the same time.
What You Need To Know
- Dual enrollment courses allow students to get both high school and college credit at the same time
- Those classes are often much cheaper than they would be once a student is in college
- The Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE) said participation grew nearly 78% over six years
- CPE President Dr. Aaron Thompson encourages high school students to participate
The Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE) reported 20,944 Kentucky students participated in dual enrollment during the 2019/2020 school year. That has been growing over the past six years, increasing 78%.
CPE President Dr. Aaron Thompson encourages students to take these classes for several benefits.
"One is to get students to understand they can go to college and they are college material," said Thompson. "Taking these courses while in high school is powerful to get them that belief system."
He also said dual enrollment classes are a much more affordable option than waiting until college to take the classes.
"The more of these courses you can take for free or very low cost, the more money you will save once you get into college full-time," said Thompson.
CPE researched with the community colleges and four-year universities. Thompson said what the research found is that students of color and students from low-income families who participated in dual enrollment in high school had higher GPAs in college.
Thompson encourages high school students to talk to their guidance counselors about dual enrollment options at their schools.