HOW DOES PARTICIPATION IN DUAL ENROLLMENT AFFECT STUDENT PERCEPTIONS OF COLLEGE READINESS AND COLLEGE DECISION-MAKING? A PHENOMENOLOGICAL CASE STUDY

Abstract

ABSTRACT

As states and higher education institutions continue to face headwinds in attempting to develop and refine initiatives targeting student success metrics and enrollment management objectives, dual enrollment programs have become increasingly prevalent nationwide. Stakeholders have turned to these early postsecondary programs based on their potential to enhance college readiness, as well as a means for recruiting undergraduates. Given their expansion in Tennessee and other states and the corresponding investment of institutional and state resources, it is timely to consider how participation in dual enrollment could affect students’ perceptions related to those aims. Utilizing an interpretive framework of pragmatism and a theoretical framework grounded in Iloh’s Model of College-Going Decisions and Trajectories, this phenomenological case study attempted to identify shared themes regarding self-perceptions of college readiness and effects on college decision-making among students who had the lived experience of participation in the Dual Enrollment program at Middle Tennessee State University during the 2022-23 and/or 2023-24 academic years. Three primary findings emerged from the data: enhanced readiness due to exposure to campus processes, structure, and resources; a lack of evidence of dual enrollment as a determinant of matriculation decisions; and unfamiliarity with the dual enrollment institution despite proximity among students. Implications include recommendations for policies that afford students increased opportunities to participate in on-campus college experiences; increased collaboration between program administrators and faculty; and streamlining of undergraduate admissions policies for participants.