Does Dual Enrollment Increase Students' Success in College? Evidence from a Quasi-Experimental Analysis of Dual Enrollment in New York City
On this page
Allen and Dadgar evaluated College Now, the City University of New York dual enrollment program, and looked past the obvious result. Yes, students who earn credits in high school need fewer of them later. But the authors found a second mechanism: students who had taken a College Now course went on to take more college courses per term once they enrolled. Time to degree fell for both reasons at once, and grade point averages came out higher.
- Who published it
- New Directions for Higher Education, 2012
- Authors
- Drew Allen and Mina Dadgar
- What it is
- Peer-reviewed study
- Where the data comes from
- New York
What it found
- Taking a College Now course shortened time to degree, partly through the college credits students earned before enrolling.
- It shortened time to degree a second way, by raising the number of college courses students took once they were enrolled.
- Dual enrollment participation raised students’ college grade point averages.
What it does not show
- The published abstract gives the direction of each effect without its size, so this page cannot tell you how many months a course saved.
- Everything here is City University of New York students, and the analysis follows only those who enrolled there.
How the study was done
A quasi-experimental evaluation of College Now, the City University of New York dual enrollment program, published in New Directions for Higher Education in 2012.
Why this matters to a family
Credits banked early explain only half of why these students finish sooner; the other half is that they carry a heavier load once they arrive.
Sources
Rules change. These were checked September 2026. Confirm the current version with your school before you act on any of it.
Reading the evidence before a decision?
Save this page and it sits on your own My FastTrack page alongside your state's deadlines and the tools. Deciding which of these findings apply to one teen, in one state, aiming at particular colleges, is what a roadmap engagement settles.