CTE Dual Credit Participation and Postsecondary Outcomes in Washington

As in many other states, Washington’s education leadership sees dual credit as a strategy to increase postsecondary education attainment and career readiness for all students and is taking steps to increase equitable access to dual credit courses for all students. CTE Dual Credit, with its high participation rate among all student groups, is a key component of the state’s dual credit options. However, little is known about the extent to which Washington students complete CTE Dual Credit course articulation and earn college credit, or the relationship between college credit earning and postsecondary outcomes. This descriptive study uses data from the State Board of Community and Technical College’s Statewide Enrollment and Reporting System (SERS) linked to the state’s P20W longitudinal education data to answer these questions. Using a cohort of students with expected high school graduation year of 2015, completion and college credit earning from CTE Dual Credit courses are examined. Results are broken out by student demographic and K-12 program participation characteristics to identify whether inequities exist.