Academic Outcomes of 4-Year University Freshman Cohorts:

A Comparison of Dual Enrollees & Advanced Placement (AP) Credit Recipients

Shoumi Mustafa and Paula ComptonMay 2014

Sample breakdown:In freshman

cohorts, 22.9% have AP tests, 7.3% have

dual enrollment credit, and another 2.5% have both. The remaining 67.3% do not have either AP

tests or dual enrollment credit.

Differences:Higher ability, family

income and urban proportions

characterize AP test-takers. Dual

enrollees have smaller income,

lower ACT scores, and higher rural representations.

Outcomes:Students with AP tests achieve the highest academic

outcomes in college. They are followed by dual enrollees,

and students without either AP or

dual enrollment credit in that order.

Numbers, characteristics and outcomes:AP, dual enrollee and others compared

Groups and definitions• Advanced Placement (AP) credit recipients:

– Freshman 4-year university main campus students with scores of 3, 4 or 5 in Advanced Placement tests.

• Dual enrollees (DE):– Freshman 4-year university main campus students who had

completed college courses while being enrolled in high schools.• Both AP & dual enrollment credit recipients (AP & DE):

– A small group of freshman 4-year university students who received both AP and dual enrollment credit.

• Students without accelerated learning (Others):– A very large group of freshman 4-year university main campus

students; they do not have either AP or dual enrollment credit.

Freshman FY2007-08 to FY2001-12 cohorts: Numbers

Only APCredit(AP)

Only dual enrollment credit

(DE)

Both AP & dual enrollment credit

(Both)

Without AP or dual enrollment credit

(Others)

Number Number Number Number

FY2007-08 7,222 1,807 635 23,383

FY2008-09 7,210 2,226 810 23,223

FY2009-10 7,739 2,476 864 22,541

FY2010-11 8,219 2,798 980 22,506

FY2011-12 8,292 2,991 977 22,281

FY2007-08 to FY2011-12 cohorts

38,682 12,298 4,266 113,934

Freshman FY2007-08 to FY2001-12 cohorts: Sample composition

Others*: 67.3%

AP: 22.9%

*Note: Others refer to students without AP or dual enrollment.

Gender, age and ethnicities compared:AP, DE, Both and Others

Summaries of gender, age and ethnicities:AP, DE, Both and Others

• Gender:– AP : 50-50 gender split– DE: Almost 60% female– Both: 50-50 gender split– Others: 50-50 gender split.• Age: No difference among the groups• Ethnicity:– AP : 84.9% White, 3.3% Black, 4.7% Asian.– DE : 77.9% White, 12.1% Black, 1.6% Asian.– Both : 86.9% White, 2.7% Black, 5.0% Asian.– Others : 71.4% White, 14.9% Black, 1.5% Asian.

Income, ability and schools compared:AP, DE, Both, and Others

Summaries of income, ability & communities: AP, DE, Both and others

• Family income:– AP: $119,534; DE: $80,993; Both: $110,185; Others: $79,318

• ACT scores:– AP: 27.3; DE: 23.0; Both: 27.8; Others: 20.8

• School communities:– AP : Urban 58.0% (high income - 50.4%, high poverty - 7.6%)

Rural 8.9% (high income - 7.2%, high poverty – 1.7%)

– DE : Urban 56.1% (high income - 34.0%, high poverty 22.1%)

Rural 28.3% (high income - 21.0%, high poverty – 7.3%)

– Both : Urban 71.2% (high income - 54.6%, high poverty 16.6%)

Rural 17.0% (high income - 13.0%, high poverty – 4.0%)

– Others : Urban 50.5% (high income – 32.8%, high poverty 17.7%)

Rural 14.5% (high income - 10.2%, high poverty – 4.3%)

Outcome Comparisons:GPA, attempted hours, completion rates

Summaries of outcomes: Comparisons• Grade Point Average (GPA):– AP test-takers (AP) : 3.24

– Dual enrollees (DE) : 2.75

– Students with both AP & dual enrollment (Both) : 3.38

– Students without AP or dual enrollment (Others) : 2.42

• Number of attempted hours:– AP test-takers (AP) : 32.1

– Dual enrollees (DE) : 29.1

– Students with both AP & dual enrollment (Both) : 32.3

– Students without AP or dual enrollment (Others) : 27.7

• Proportion of completed hours:– AP test-takers (AP) : 94.4%

– Dual enrollees (DE) : 84.8%

– Students with both AP & dual enrollment (Both) : 94.5%

– Students without AP or dual enrollment (Others) : 79.0%

Outcome comparison stable over time:Grade Point Average

3.24 3.26 3.24 3.24 3.22

2.82 2.77 2.73 2.70 2.74

3.32 3.30 3.30 3.28 3.23

2.42 2.45 2.39 2.37 2.45

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AP DE Both Others

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AP: Advanced Placement credit recipients; DE: Dual enrollment credit recipients;Both: Students with AP & DE credit;; Others: Students without AP or DE credit.

AP, DE, Both and OthersFirst-Year Grade Point Average (GPA)

Outcome comparison stable over time:Number of attempted hours

32.1 32.2 32.1 32.0 31.9

29.0 29.2 29.2 29.1 28.9

32.5 32.5 32.7 32.2 31.8

27.9 27.9 27.7 27.6 27.5

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AP: Advanced Placement credit recipients; DE: Dual enrollment credit recipients;Both: Students with AP & DE credit;; Others: Students without AP or DE credit.

AP, DE, Both and OthersNumber of Attempted Hours in the First Year

Outcome comparison stable over time:Proportion of completed hours

94.3 94.5 94.6 94.5 94.3

86.4 85.1 84.8 83.9 84.3

94.1 94.5 94.8 94.8 94.1

78.8 79.8 79.2 78.2 78.8

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AP DE Both Others

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AP: Advanced Placement credit recipients; DE: Dual enrollment credit recipients;Both: Students with AP & DE credit;; Others: Students without AP or DE credit.

AP, DE, Both and OthersProportion of Completed Hours in the First Year

What do we learn?Sample composition and characteristics

• Composition:– AP credit recipients account for 22.9% of freshman cohorts.– Dual enrollees occupy 7.2% of the cohorts.– Another 2.5% of the freshman cohorts have both AP and dual enrollment

credit.– Overall, accelerated learning credit is available for a third of the freshman

cohort. The remaining 67.3% of freshman students do not have such credit.

• Characteristics: Gender, income, ability and urban-rural characteristics are the major differences between AP and DE groups.– AP has a 50-50 gender split although almost 60% of DE are female.– Relative to DE, the AP group has higher average family income ($40,000

more), higher average ACT scores (27.3 to 23.0) , and higher representation of affluent urban communities (50.4% to 30.4%).

What do we learn?Academic outcome comparison

• Students with AP credit and those with both AP and dual enrollment credit achieve the highest average outcomes.– AP – GPA (3.24), attempted hours (32.1), completion rate (94.4%).– DE – GPA (2.75), attempted hours (29.1), completion rate (84.8%).– Both – GPA (3.38), attempted hours (32.3), completion rate (94.5%).– Others – GPA (2.42), attempted hours (27.7), completion rate (79.0%).

• Time trend: The averages are stable over time as well.