Dual Credit Data Story – Hawai‘i Data eXchange Partnership

Dual credit programs allow high school students to enroll in college classes and earn credit toward high school graduation and a college degree. By exposing participants to college-level coursework, dual credit programs ease the transition to college, particularly for traditionally underrepresented students. These programs aim to increase the rate of college matriculation and college degree attainment for all participants.

This data story illustrates the dual credit journey of Hawaiʻi public schools.

A Brief History

Pre-Early College

Prior to 2011-2012
The main dual credit opportunity was the Running Start program, in which students enrolled at University of Hawaiʻi (UH) campuses alongside regularly-enrolled students and earned both high school and college credit.

Early College Pilot

2012-2017
Early College, a program which allows students to take UH classes at their own high school, was developed to address some of the transportation, scheduling, and financial barriers that prevented students from taking college classes previously.

Early College Expansion

After 2017
Funding from the Hawaiʻi State Legislature supported the expansion of the Early College Program.

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How have dual credit programs expanded in Hawai‘i over the last decade?

Dual credit opportunities have greatly expanded thanks to public investment in Early College.

Students

Dual credit participation among public high school students greatly increased from School Year 2016-2017 (16-17) to 2023-2024 (23-24).

Schools

Public high schools with Early College classes increased to 57 schools since 2016-2017 (16-17).

Grade Level

An increasing number of students from the lower grade levels are taking dual credit courses.

Courses

The number of unique dual credit courses taken by public high school students per school has increased 35% since 2016-2017 (16-17).

Top 10 Most Offered Dual Credit Courses in 2023-2024

Rank	Course	# Enrolled
1	ENGLISH 100	1,831
2	PSYCHOLOGY 100	893
3	SPEECH 151	497
4	MATH 103	332
5	MATH 100	307
6	HAWAIIAN STUDIES 107	299
7	SOCIOLOGY 100	290
8	HISTORY 152	288
9	INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES 103	238
10	HISTORY 151	173
	384 Other Courses	6,721

Statewide Participation

Dual credit programs have expanded to benefit students across the entire State of Hawai‘i.

Note: Click on the arrows to toggle the years 2016–2017 and 2023–2024.

2016–2017

2,991 public high school students participated in dual credit programs, representing 6.1% of students in Grades 9-12.

2023–2024

5,484 public high school students participated in dual credit programs, representing 11.2% of students in Grades 9–12.

UH Campus

Public High School Students Served

To what degree have dual credit programs reached Hawaiʻi’s diverse student population?

Hawaiʻi’s public high schools serve a diverse student body.

NOTE: Graphs in this section show the statewide percentage of dual credit participants as a reference.
The sub-group(s) whose percent is above the statewide line indicate that the population is over-represented relative to the other sub-group(s).

Gender

While males makes up 52% of public high school students, females are more likely than males to participate.

Race/Ethnicity

While dual credit participation has increased across all student, growth has been strongest for populations that are underrepresented in higher education such as Filipinos and Pacific Islanders.

Economically Disadvantaged

While more than 43% of public school high school students are economically disadvantaged, participation rates have grown faster for non-disadvantaged students.

English Learners (EL)

EL participation rates have increased over time from a low of 0.5% in School Year 2016-2017 to 4.3% in 2023-2024.

Are dual credit participants in Hawaiʻi more likely to attend and successfully complete college?

Graduates

The proportion of public high school graduates participating in dual credit increased from 17% of the Class of 2017 to 27% of the Class of 2024.

First Fall College Enrollment Rate

Public high school graduates who participated in dual credit enrolled in college the first fall after high school graduation at sharply higher rates.

NOTE: Classes of 2020 – 2022 were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

College Enrollment

Graduates participating in dual credit are more likely than non-participants to attend college at an UH campus or on the continent.

Campuses Attended

Dual Credit Participants
Public High School Class of 2024

UH Campuses Attended	%
UH Mānoa	20%
Leeward Community College	5.7%
Kapiʻolani Community College	3.3%
UH Maui College	3.2%
UH Hilo	3%
UH West Oʻahu	2.8%
Hawaiʻi Community College	2.6%
Kauaʻi Community College	2.5%
Windward Community College	2.3%
Honolulu Community College	2.1%

BOLD – UH 4 Year Campuses

Dual Credit Non-Participants
Public High School Class of 2024

UH Campuses Attended	%
UH Mānoa	9.2%
Leeward Community College	4.6%
Kapiʻolani Community College	3.9%
UH Maui College	2.3%
Hawaiʻi Community College	2.1%
Honolulu Community College	2%
Windward Community College	1.3%
UH West Oʻahu	1.1%
Kauaʻi Community College	1%
UH Hilo	1%

BOLD – UH 4 Year Campuses

Enrollment and Completion

Graduates participating in dual credit are more likely than non-participants to enroll in college within 6 years of completing high school and earn a college award.

NOTE: These values are for the Class of 2017 – Class of 2023 pooled together.

Enrollment within 6 years

The portion of graduates that enrolled in college within 6 years of completing high school is 88% for dual credit graduates compared to 64% for non-dual credit graduates.

College Award within 6 years

The portion of graduates that earned a college award within 6 years of completing high school is 56% for dual credit graduates compared to 30% for non-dual credit graduates.

Key Findings

Expansion

Dual credit opportunities have expanded widely across the state. A concerted effort is being made to strengthen the overall Early College experience for students, including more intentionally connecting Early College courses with college and career pathways, embedding dual credit program supports, and incorporating college and career counseling/advising to guide students in pursuing their goals. Additionally, work is being done to ensure that students in rural/remote communities have equitable access to dual credit opportunities.
Impact

Students who participate in dual credit opportunities have significantly higher rates of college enrollment, persistence, and degree completion. Further analysis is needed to understand the impact of dual credit participation on students who may not initially see themselves as “college bound,” to examine the factors that may lead some dual credit participants to not enroll in college the first fall after their high school graduation, and to determine what additional services may support the first fall college enrollment of more of these students (particularly those from populations underrepresented in higher education).
Underrepresented Students

Dual credit participation rates by students from underrepresented populations have increased and will continue to be a focus area, based on the Early College Strategic Directions jointly released by HIDOE and UH in February 2024. Future work will explore how to better employ recruitment strategies and support services to ensure that males, Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, Filipinos, English Learners, economically disadvantaged, rural, and first generation students have equitable access to and greater success in dual credit programs.
Academic Readiness

Academic preparation is particularly important in fostering equitable participation in dual credit opportunities. Further discussion and collaborative work between secondary and postsecondary partners should occur to ensure that more students, particularly those from underrepresented populations, are ready for the rigors of college coursework.

Students’ college enrollment and completion data comes from the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC). NSC data covers over 3,600 postsecondary institutions that collectively enroll 97% of all students in public and private higher education/postsecondary institutions nationwide

Note: Due to the different student matching process that DXP uses, dual credit participant numbers in this dual credit data story may not completely align to individual UH or Hawaiʻi Department of Education reports.

Interested in more resources about dual credit?

Please visit the Hawaiʻi dual credit website or contact Nicole Atwood at nicolesw@hawaii.edu and Wendi Vincent at wendi.vincent@k12.hi.us.

The 2023 Data Summit presentation, Moving the Needle: Effective Uses of Data in Evolving and Growing Hawaiʻi’s Early College Program, prStudents’ college enrollment and completion data comes from the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC). NSC data covers nearly 3,600 postsecondary institutions that collectively enroll 97% of all students in public and private higher education/postsecondary institutions nationwideovides an excellent view into how data is being used to make decisions around the Early College program.

The creation of this data story was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant 84.372A (Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems) to the Hawai‘i State Department of Education. The opinions expressed are those of Hawai‘i P-20 Partnerships for Education and do not represent views of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education.