Banking on Dual Credit: Broadening Opportunities to Earn College Credit in High School and the Transition to College.

This article examines the effects of passing end-of-course (EOC) exams in Tennessee’s statewide dual-credit (SDC) career and technical education (CTE) courses, which allow high school students to earn college credits redeemable at any public postsecondary institution in the state. Using a regression-discontinuity design, the study finds that barely passing these CTE dual-credit exams increases the likelihood of enrolling in a public, in-state, 2-year college, partly due to a decreased likelihood of attending private in-state institutions. The analysis also suggests that male students experience a relatively larger increase in enrollment at public 2-year colleges following exam passage compared to female students. These findings highlight the role of early college credit and field-specific competency signals in shaping college enrollment and choice, especially for middle-achieving students, while noting the need for further research on long-term outcomes such as credential attainment.