Staffing and Resource Allocation in College Access Reform: How Dual Credit Shifts Educational Costs

Abstract

Objective: Dual credit (DC), or dual enrollment, is college-level coursework that confers credit toward both high school graduation and a postsecondary degree. As DC has grown rapidly across the country, this study provides needed evidence about how these courses shift resources and cost burdens among community colleges, school districts, and families.

Methods: We use economic evaluation methods to assess the cost of DC across three delivery models, where DC is administered in (a) traditional comprehensive high schools; (b) Early College High Schools (ECHS); and (c) school-within-school ECHSs. We draw on statewide administrative datasets combined with a smaller qualitative data sample.

Results: We find that implementation of DC requires substantial investment in existing staff personnel time as well as new staff positions, professional development costs, and other costs, across both K-12 and postsecondary sectors. In addition to requiring new resources, DC shifts the cost burden of educating high school students from school districts to community colleges. We find community colleges bear a disproportionate share of costs, especially in delivery models where community college faculty serve as the instructor of record—a model that is common in ECHSs.

Contributions: The study informs the design of tuition agreements and instructor and student course assignment policies that promote equitable and sustainable distribution of costs and resources for students, school districts, and community colleges. Future research may explore how costs compare to measures of impact, especially for low-income and global majority students, who are historically underrepresented in higher education.