SHREVEPORT – High school students and their families constantly look for the best ways to prepare for college.
Taking courses for college credit is an increasingly popular choice for Louisiana high school students as they get a head start on their degrees.
This trend is reflected in the rapid growth of LSUS’s Dual Enrollment (DE) and Academic Excellence (AEP) programs the past two years.
LSUS’s combined enrollment in these programs reached 450 students this spring, a 45 percent increase from 310 students in Fall 2022.
Dr. Elisabeth Liebert, Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at LSUS and academic director of the DE and AEP programs, said the Louisiana Board of Regents has intentionally promoted dual enrollment as part of their 2030 vision.
“Much of this growth is in response to that promotion as their goal is to have every student graduate from high school with some kind of post-secondary credential or with college credits,” Liebert said of the Louisiana Board of Regents, which governs all higher education in the state. “Dual Enrollment is growing across the state, but LSUS has also made some direct contacts that have impacted the growth of our programs.”
While LSUS’s growth in its Dual Enrollment program, where teachers are authorized to administer college courses in high school classrooms, mirrors growth across the state, LSUS’s expansion in its Academic Excellence Program stemmed from specific relationships.
The AEP program, where high school students take college courses directly on campus or online, increased to 46 students, a 40-student increase from Fall 2022.
Agreements with North Caddo High School and Simsboro High School (Lincoln Parish) are responsible for the bulk of AEP growth.
In either program, high school students are earning college credit for the significantly reduced rate of $50/credit hour.
“Reducing the overall cost of a degree is certainly one of the key selling points of early college,” Liebert said. “Starting early means that some students can finish their undergraduate degree and embark on a graduate program while still receiving TOPS.”
But that’s far from the only benefit of early college programs.
Research shows that early-start programs help students develop cognitive strategies (practiced behaviors important for college-level work), content knowledge (understanding how foundational content is structured) and learning techniques (ownership of learning).
Strategically managed, early-start programs also help high-school students develop transition knowledge and skills, understanding how college operates.
This benefit goes beyond the academic enrichment or college credits available to them in parallel programs, such as Advanced Placement.
“A dual enrollment student is an LSUS student, and they have a right to an equivalent experience in terms of accessing all the resources our campus offers,” Liebert said. “I want to make sure that they have that experience, not just the right to it.”
Informing dual enrollment students what LSUS offers was a key mission of Dual Enrollment Day, which attracted more than 100 of LSUS’s dual enrollment students to campus in early February.
Dual Enrollment students learned how to navigate college resources, met with college advisors and participated in hands-on library research among a host of activities.
Having Dual Enrollment students on campus increases the probability that these students will attend LSUS full time once they begin college.
Dual Enrollment students that did enroll at LSUS full-time were highly successful. The Fall 2022 cohort, which consisted of 23 students, compiled a 3.37 GPA in their first year of college.
“These students came from eight different schools with very different demographics,” Liebert said. “Their dual enrollment classes ranged from Spanish to Biology, and they embarked on 13 different degree programs here at LSUS.
“The common experience was early exposure to college.”
While the program is working toward capturing more of the Dual Enrollment student population to attend LSUS full time, the most important aspect is that these students are prepared for college wherever they go.
