Community College Transitioning Experiences of Dual Enrollment Students

Dual enrollment transitioning experiences of students are poorly understood, leaving higher education stakeholders without the proper information to smooth the transitioning process and keep students in college. This basic qualitative study using interviews explored how 10 dual enrollment students described their transitioning experiences from high school to community college by investigating their motivations, ability to acknowledge self-efficacy, and understanding of social interactions using Badura\u27s self-efficacy model and Keller\u27s motivational theory and the attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction model. Data were analyzed through an open coding method to categorize themes and patterns as well as discrepant information. Key findings indicated that dual enrollment students embraced the rigor of courses and transitioned their learning skills to their non-dual enrollment college education. They reported strong self-efficacy and indicated both internal and external motivators and good support systems that contributed to their completion. They did not attribute their completion of the dual enrollment program to school-based relationships or club affiliations. The social change implication is that good transition experiences between high school and college for these students assisted them in staying in college and completing programs. Increased graduation rates and attrition rates could result in better qualified and more marketable graduates, impacting a more educated community and productive economy