Dalton State College-[node:field-date:custom:Y]--Award Credit for AP/IB/CLEP/DSST/ACE/Portfolio review, -MOWR/Dual Enrollment/Joint Enrollment program

Goal 6 – Shorten Time to Degree -- Strategy 6.1 – Dual enrollment for high school students

For several years Dalton State has actively pursued increasing the number of high school students participating in dual enrollment, which serves to shorten time to degree.  An earlier challenge with this strategy was the inequity imbalance in funding established by the state, which penalized local high schools if their students were dually enrolled in an institution in the USG but not so if they were dually enrolled in a TCSG schoolinstitution.  In addition, USG academic standards for participation in dual enrollment exceeded those of the TCSG.  The funding policyissue has since been corrected revisedand high school standards have increased; consequently, our dual enrollment numbers have also begun to rise. As the number of dual enrolled students increases, we would expect it to have a larger impact on our overall completion time.  Further, we have increased our outreach activities with local high schools, including having faculty visit high school classrooms, having hosting high school classes visits on campus, certifying high school teachers to teach some dual enrollment classes at their own schools, and having our DSC faculty teach classes at the high schools.  Many of the dual enrolled students attend classes on campus in contrast to the instructor visiting the high school.  We also offer assistance with completing financial aid applications and conduct an annual conference for high school counselors to update them on programs, services and activities available on campus..  In Summer 2015 the Office of Enrollment Services hired a Coordinator for the Dual Enrollment program, with the goal of further outreach and growth in the program. 

Due to these outreach activities, dual enrollment has greatly increased.  Since Fall 2011, Hhead count has increased by 205300%, enrolled credit  and student credit hours by 220278%, and earned credit hours by 270%. From Fall 2010 to Spring 2015 DSC enrolled 984 students in dual enrollment , achieving at 95.2% success rate. Dalton State teaches dual enrollment students from 18 local high schools and offers dual enrollment courses in three five high schools.  Courses in English, math, science, history, social sciences, and foreign language are taught in the dual enrollment program. Fall 2015 saw a 43% increase in the number of dual enrolled students. 

Ideally, the increase in dual enrolled students should also be accompanied by a long-term increase in the number of those students who enroll at Dalton State and finish a credential.  Unfortunately, this has not been the case.  In 2011-2012, 64.71% Of the 102 students who had been dual enrolled in the 2011-2012 AY, 64.71% enrolled at Dalton State for their credential.  This percentage dropped to 40.22% for the 179 students who were dual enrolled in 2014-2015 AY.  One area of improvement should be to raise the percentage of students who choose to attend Dalton State for their credential as well as increasing the number of dual-enrolled students. .  In Summer 2015 the Office of Enrollment Services hired a Coordinator for the Dual Enrollment program, with the goal of further outreach and growth in the program. 

Another substantial increase has been seen in DSC’s granting of credit for Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate work in high schools.  The number of AP credits brought in by students increased almost tenfold over five years, from 47 in Fall 2010 to 437 in Fall 2014, and IB credits increased by three times between Fall 2011 (9) and Fall 2014 (27).  Although not relegated to high school students, the number of student credit hours granted by CLEP test has increased from 216 in AY 2011 to 958 in AY 958, a rise of 443%, thus allowing expedited graduation. Although not an alternative method, DSC has increased its number of hours achieved through CLEP and credit by exam; however, AP, IB, and DSST credits have decreased, offset by the strong increase in dual enrollment options for local high school students.