Challenges of Transitioning Using Dual Credits

Dual Credit Courses and The Challenges Students Have Transitioning to A Community College
Introduction
Tobolowsky and Allen (2016) posits that dual credit courses refer to courses that high school students can take where they get to earn both high school and college credit simultaneously. The students will not have to take any standardized test in order for them to earn credits. Dual credit courses have been found to be beneficial to the students in that they can take up to 2 years of introductory college courses and this works towards them joining the college with vital credits. It has also been found that dual credit courses allow high school students to easily transition to college (Lile, Ottusch, Jones, & Richards, 2018). It has been noted that students who are the first to join college from their families face numerous challenges enrolling and succeeding in college. Students who come from minority groups or come, low-income families, are also faced with the same challenges. It is for this reason that the dual credit courses were introduced not only for the top performing students but for all students. This increased the likelihood of students joining college regardless of the backgrounds (Jones, 2014). The challenges faced were reduced and there has been an increased number of high school students who transition to college. Dual credit courses are affordable and reduce the cost of college education for a student (Jones, 2014; Lile et al., 2018; Tobolowsky & Allen, 2016). While the benefits of dual credit courses are noble and have been confirmed by numerous researchers, it is disappointing to note that there are still challenges that students face when they are transitioning to community college. These challenges will be covered in our literature review.
Literature Review
The quality of instruction has been in question ever since the dual credit courses begun. A majority of the secondary educators that also teach advanced placement courses have noted some concerns with the quality of instruction they offer. According to (Lile et al., 2018) college professors have also noted that dual credit courses do not offer the same level of rigor that is required of college students. This means that the students would still suffer and struggle to keep up with the realities of college. This goes against the intention of dual credit courses, which is to prepare students for the rigor and realities of college. The lack of this means that students will still have a hard time transitioning from high school to college (Jones, 2014). The only difference is that the students will have acquired some college credits while they are still in high school and this might assist them in college. One should not assume that dual credit courses are not effective. On the contrary, researchers have found that students who take concurrent enrollment programs in high school have been found to have better persistence rates and they are less likely to drop out of college.
Transferability of credits is not applicable to all institutions. The issue of transferability of credits means that students are at times forced to retake the same courses they had already taken when in high school (Tobolowsky & Allen, 2016). This results in demoralization and negates the advantages of dual credit courses. It has been found that some community colleges will not accept the credits that a student has earned when they were in high school (Lile et al., 2018). This is because some of the colleges do not believe in the courses being taught in high school. Therefore, when the students are forced to retake the same course it results in them questioning their college attendance. Some students are forced to change their preferred institution (Jones, 2014). This is because their preferred institution does not accept the credits they earned in high school. In case a student insists on joining their preferred institution they will be forced to start afresh and this will mean they will not have reduced their college costs. Dual credit courses have the potential to limit a student's major and minor selection. Considering that high schools will only offer certain dual credit courses, a student who takes more dual credit courses will have already set out their path for what they will be majoring in college. Therefore, when they get to college, they might discover it is not possible for them to change their major or minor and this can be discouraging. It is advisable that students take dual courses that are linked to their preferred college. This way the student will be in a position to transfer their credits to their college of choice.
A majority of the researchers who have carried out studies on the benefits of dual credit courses have noted that their research failed to note other unmeasured factors like student motivation and parental support and encouragement (Jones, 2014; Lile et al., 2018). These factors are vital in determining the true impact of dual credit courses. Looking at student motivation, it is most likely that a majority of students have a desire to join college and they are willing to jumpstart their career. It is clear that dual credit courses require extra work and if a student is not prepared mentally, they will find it difficult to complete or take part in the course. Transitioning to a community college for students who have been taking dual credit courses is never easy (Tobolowsky & Allen, 2016). There is the change in the environment that some students find hard to keep up with. College life is quite different from high school and most students get caught up in the fast pace of college activities. The freedom that a student gets while in college might result in them not being serious with their studies. Even with the rigor that they have experienced as they were taking the dual credit courses, they might still find it had to adopt the college lifestyle. It is difficult to create experiences that are similar to those of college. This is because most high schools do not have the necessary facilities for this. Taking some or all the dual credit courses in a college environment will prepare the high school student for the life in college. This way the student gets acquainted with college early and they can learn the intricacies of college life. Early preparation and interaction with college life allow the student to be prepared for when they will join college fully.
Conclusion
There are many advantages that high school students get when they undertake dual credit courses and these advantages are being pushed by the proponents of dual credit courses. While it is true that dual credit courses are beneficial to students, there are some challenges that students are faced with and some of these challenges have not been fully analyzed in research. Therefore, there is need to take a different approach to analyze the efficacy of dual credit courses with an aim to uncover the underlying challenges as having been noted in the literature review. Students who only undertake the courses within their high school will have a hard time transitioning to college because they will not be prepared for college life and only prepared academically. Students whose credits are refused by their preferred college are likely to not further their postsecondary education or they are forced to undertake the same course again. This demonstrates the lack of standardization on the offerings of dual credit courses that should be looked into to ensure that no institution would reject a student’s credits. Standardization would also benefit the students since they would be encouraged to pursue courses that would assist them complete college faster and at a lower cost.
References
Jones, S. J. (2014). Student participation in dual enrollment and college success. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 38(1), 24-37.
Lile, J. R., Ottusch, T. M., Jones, T., & Richards, L. N. (2018). Understanding College-Student Roles: Perspectives of Participants in a High School/Community College Dual-Enrollment Program. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 42(2), 95-111.
Tobolowsky, B. F., & Allen, T. O. (2016). On the fast track: Understanding the opportunities and challenges of dual credit. ASHE Higher Education Report, 42(3), 7-106.