Dual enrollment, the program that gives high school students a way to earn college credit alongside their high school credits, is an excellent option that provides amazing results for individuals, families, and the community as a whole. From English composition to chemistry and culinary arts to welding, dual enrollment allows students with any range of interests to gain new knowledge and experience and to learn skills that will benefit them long after they graduate. All this at no cost to the student, reducing the financial impact of continuing on to earn a college degree.

Additionally, time and time again, research has shown that students who participate in dual enrollment while in high school are typically better prepared for the transition to college, which leads to greater academic success, which then leads to more professional success later on. These advantages occur for students whether they are taking just a couple of courses or if they take enough to earn an associate’s degree along with their high school diploma. They also apply whether students then continue on to attend a four-year university or a two-year community college. Another especially important result is that these benefits apply across all demographic groups.

For this reason, dual enrollment is often seen as an educational equalizer, meaning it provides similar opportunities and benefits for all students, even if they are in disadvantaged or minoritized populations. However, educational researchers have discovered that even though its goal may be to help “level the playing field” in post-secondary education, that isn’t necessarily what is actually happening.

Instead, the trend across the country is that students from families where the parents have college degrees and those with higher household incomes are more likely to participate in and reap the benefits of dual enrollment compared to first generation students and those with lower household incomes. This can cause the education gap between the groups to actually get wider rather than narrower.

The reason for the difference is most likely due to awareness. Students and families that have more direct experience and knowledge about college in general are more likely to already know about dual enrollment, including the advantages that it provides. On the other hand, students and families that don’t have that familiarity with the world of post-secondary education, may be in the situation where they don’t know what they don’t know. That’s where we, as community college leaders, can improve how we present dual enrollment to school districts and community members, especially to students and families who may not know where to even start a conversation about it. So hopefully, this article can help start some of those conversations.

High school and middle school students, parents and guardians of high school and middle school students, now is a great time to reach out to your school counselors or the Marshalltown Community College admissions office to see what dual enrollment options are available and what might be your best path forward.

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Ashtyn Beek is the Dean of Iowa Valley Grinnell

for the Iowa Valley Community College District.