Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Research points to a strong positive relationship between earning college credits in high school and postsecondary progress and graduation (Allen & Dadger, 2011). In this study, we measure the impact of dual enrollment in high school and college courses through the College Now (CN) program on early postsecondary outcomes for students at scale. Our sample is students who enrolled in CN during 2014-2016 in the 11th or 12th grade from the 74% (443 out of 599) New York City’s public high schools where the program is offered. Each year, there were approximately 17,673 students enrolled in CN’s college-credit courses out of a possible 123,463 students at the high schools with the CN program. For this study, we use both sharp and a fuzzy regression discontinuity design (RDD) methodology that estimates the causal local average effect of the treatment, dual enrollment in college classes while in high school via CN, on first semester and first-year postsecondary outcomes including college enrollment, number of course credits completed, and freshman GPA. We use a sharp RD for the impact of dual enrollment in college math courses on postsecondary outcomes and a fuzzy RD for the effects of dual enrollment in English courses on postsecondary outcomes. To measure the causal effect, we will compare first semester and first-year postsecondary outcomes for students both eligible for and enrolled in CN who fall directly above (within a 10 point range) and those who are not enrolled in CN and are directly below the score cutoff (within a 10 point range). Using administrative data from the NYCDOE and CUNY, as well as National Student Clearinghouse (NSC), the analyses focuses on outcomes in four key indicators of momentum and success in the first semester and first year of college: 1) college enrollment, 2) credit accumulation, 3) gateway/pathway course completion, and 4) general academic achievement.