This story was originally published by Chalkbeat.
DENVER | About 40% of Colorado’s community college enrollment is made up of high school students earning college credits, part of a nationwide rise in younger students enrolled in college-level courses. But a recent report finds that Colorado and other states still face significant challenges in making sure those students get the most out of the experience.
The report from the Community College Research Center at the Teachers College, Columbia University says growth doesn’t equate to program quality, and states should rethink policies to support high school students who are dual enrolled.
The report’s observations match some of the challenges Colorado has faced with these programs, including the need for more funding and coming up with ways to ensure that the credits students earn put them on a clear college or career path.
Colorado lawmakers created the state’s concurrent enrollment program in 2009 so that high school students can get exposure to college courses and earn credits that transfer to a two- or four-year university, saving them money on tuition. Colorado also offers online options. The number of Colorado students participating has steadily increased in recent years.
About 40,000 Colorado high school students were considered dual-enrolled in fall 2025, meaning they take one or more classes while in high school, according to Colorado Community College System numbers. That number increased by more than 3,000 students compared to the previous fall.
Some students even finish college while in high school, with a recent report showing about 3.4% of the class of 2022 earning a degree.
But Bobby Pace, Colorado Community College System provost and vice president of academic success, said there is room for improvement.
“It’s interesting to know that Colorado, we’re not alone in this, and that no state has quite gotten it quite right,” Pace said.
The report offers five areas where states can strengthen dual enrollment for students and includes recommendations related to each.
The five areas include a call for states to improve academic, financial, and career advising support; track student data more comprehensively; and ensure these programs enable students to earn credits that align to their interests.
For example, the authors say many of the programs focus on general college courses instead of career or college pathways, a pattern they describe as “random acts of dual enrollment.”
Pace believes many states, including Colorado, are thinking about how to tailor programs so students aren’t just accumulating credits but graduating with what they need to get ahead in college. This would improve eventual degree attainment that leads to jobs, he said.
“I think that’s that fundamental shift that states are now going to be looking at,” he said.
The Colorado Department of Education has already enacted some of the other recommendations in the report and is working toward getting every high school student enrolled in at least one college class, earning 12 college credits, or enrolling in a work-based learning opportunity before graduation.
The department didn’t respond to a request for comment about the report.
The programs are also mostly low cost for students, but the research center shows that Colorado ranks among states with low funding for dual or concurrent enrollment programs. That means some students must still pay for books and fees.
Pace said that in recent years, racial and socioeconomic disparities have popped up in who is earning credits through dual enrollment. He sees room for the state to improve student support resources within districts and when students matriculate to college.
“No model that we have in the state currently has the wraparound student support that may be necessary,” he said.
Jason Gonzales is a reporter covering higher education and the Colorado legislature. Chalkbeat Colorado partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage. Contact Jason at jgonzales@chalkbeat.org. Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.
Humm, sounds like we are compressing what would be 14 years of education into as little as 12 to get a community college degree. This begs the question, what was unnecessary for those extra two years in high school. Another puzzling question results from most 4 year liberal arts colleges saying that a significant portion of their high school graduates that they admit need significant remediation before being ready for college level work. In my short life, I have noticed a significant degradation of skill levels in new Bachelor level degreed individuals. We must be careful how we define success in our educational systems to maintain quality control of our educational degrees. It is great, however, that high schools are helping students prepare for well-paying careers in the trades that are badly needed in our communities.
This trend was happening when I worked in the Grants office at San Jacinto College, a 30,000 student Community College (CC), that had been selected as a top 5 CC in the nation by the Aspen Instute. Mr. Pace is correct. It’s hard work fitting into this modern trend. High schools have a duty to prepare students for life-long learning and Community Colleges must embrace the reality that CC students want job pathways and they don’t want to waste their time, but there exists a tension between rigorous curricula and student expectations. Pathways must be clarified by the CCs by knowledgeable career counselors, so students get the support they need in real time. Outdated notions that emphasize associates degrees over lucrative credit programs require realistic assessment. Industry should be involved in the educational process, so that current courses don’t become obsolete. Our Grants Office was involved by seeking workforce training grants with the Texas Workforce Commission and the Federal Department of Labor. We were recipients of grants from the DOL that focused on training throughout the Houston region. We worked with sub-recipient institutions on grants of up to $30MM to align institutional strengths with area programs and to provide apprenticeships to students to allow industry to partner in student success. It altered the way we did business. I retired, but the work is still going on to make the CC experience relevant to students and the community! It won’t and shouldn’t end. Relevance requires constant monitoring and sensitivity to nuanced business trends.