The Transition of Dual Enrollment Students Pursuing Competitive Admission Programs

The dual enrollment program enables students to enroll in college courses while in high school. The purpose of this study is to understand the transition of students from a dual enrollment high school experience to being a first-time, full-time college student seeking acceptance to a competitive admission academic program such as nursing or exercise physiology. A basic interpretative qualitative design was used for the study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the participants. The participants in the study consisted of eight former dual enrollment students and three professional staff members who work with dual enrollment students. Pseudonyms were incorporated for participants and the four-year university in the study. The interviews and data analysis resulted in one key finding and three significant themes. The key finding reflects the importance of aligning dual enrollment courses with the curriculum requirements for students’ intended major. To properly align the curriculum, it is recommended for dual enrollment students to meet with an advisor for their intended major when beginning the dual enrollment program. For the pre-nursing and pre-exercise physiology students in the study, they did not experience a significance decrease in time to degree completion due to dual enrollment participation. The three significant themes were: Dual Enrollment Prepared Me For College But Not My Major, There Are A Lot of Hands In The Pot and They Were Very Supportive. In the three significant themes, students primarily shared how the dual enrollment program was a benefit to them seeking acceptance into a competitive admission academic program. The participants shared that dual enrollment participation provided the foundation for a knowledgeable transition to the first-time, full-time college experience.Whisler, Vesta R.Hull, Karla M.Backes, Charles E.Pegnesse, Chere L.Ed.D.Adult And Career Educatio