A Seven Year Analysis of Early College Programs in Ohio: A Cost Efficient Way to Improve Degree Attainment
Ohio’s business, political, and education leaders believe increasing the number of Ohio citizens who have attained a post-secondary degree will help Ohio improve its competitiveness in the national and global economy. One cost effective way to improve the college degree attainment rate for recent high school graduates is early college programs, which enable high school students to experience college-level courses and earn college credit prior to high school graduation. Students who earned college credit during high school graduated at a 17.9% higher rate than students who did not earn early college credit, and also graduated in a shorter time. Students who earned early college credit also achieved the important degree momentum point of earning at least 20 credits the first year of college at a higher rate than students who did not earn early college credit. Just over 300,000 Ohio public college student enrollment records were studied for this retrospective analysis of fall term student enrollments from 2004-2010.
Education, Higher Education, dual enrollment, early college, degree completion, PSEO, Ohio early college, dual credit
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