Expanding Opportunities for Concurrent Enrollment

Fall
2007
Resolution Number
04.01
 
Assigned to
Educational Policies Committee
Category
Articulation and Transfer
Status
Completed
Summary
Encourage expanding opportunities for concurrent enrollment of high school students in California community colleges with the goal of stimulating college-going behavior and improving subsequent student success in college.
Status Report

Continue to monitor and make recommendations via Consultation. Related legislation has been delayed due to budget. Discussions in the 2010-11 AY suggest this will be a very low priority until funding reappears.

Whereas, National research demonstrates that high school students who participate in concurrent/dual enrollment receive many benefits, including improved college persistence rates, higher first-year and cumulative grade point averages (see Chronicle of Higher Education, "High-School Students Are Helped by Taking College Courses, Study Finds", October 17, 2007);

Whereas, High school students in career technical education programs may not clearly understand the potential benefits of going to college, and they are the very students most often targeted by concurrent enrollment programs;

Whereas, The students who benefit most from concurrent enrollment opportunities frequently come from underrepresented populations; and

Whereas, The recent research paper "Beyond the Open Door: Increasing Student Success in the California Community Colleges" cites numerous studies demonstrating the effect of encouraging "direct college-going after high school" on improved student success in college due to the positive "relationship between student age and likelihood of degree completion," and recognizing that students in concurrent programs actually begin their college studies while in high school;

Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges encourage expanding opportunities for concurrent enrollment of high school students in California community colleges with the goal of stimulating college-going behavior and improving subsequent student success in college.
MSC Disposition: System Office, Local Senates