Welcome to Mile Markers, a bimonthly newsletter about rural higher education. I’m Nick Fouriezos, an Open Campus national reporter who grew up at the crossroads of suburban Atlanta and the foothills of Appalachia.

Today’s Roadmap

01: Postcards: Ambition and angst in Orangeburg, S.C.

02: Roadside Attractions: A rural gathering at Clemson University

01: Postcards

I’m struck by their ambition, and exhausted by it.

I’m sitting in a classroom at Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College, where 10 dual-credit high schoolers have gathered for a listening session organized by the national nonprofit Education Design Lab.

Plied with pizza and soda, the young strivers are encouraged to share their dreams.

Madison is aiming for a pre-med track at Spelman Collage, and Mia is thinking about studying orthopedic surgery at Florida A&M. Jordan is torn between law and medicine, eyeing Duke University. Megan wants to become a labor and delivery nurse but dreams of New York University so she can explore the Big Apple first.

Every single one of them mentions wanting to attend a four-year university after high school. But even as they speak about opportunity, they also feel its toll: near-constant burnout, time management struggles, and fears about not getting into their dream schools.

“My teachers all give me so much work, and they don’t talk to each other to see how much pressure they’re actually putting on us students,” Jordan says.

As the load grows, it’s hard for many of the students to speak up.

“I'm not vocal, I don't ask for help. More times than less, I'll just try to handle it myself,” says Rashan, who wants to become an orthopedic surgeon one day.

This group is a particularly high-striving, and high-stress, sample size, says Tara Greene, the early college director.

While the program pulls from many local public and private high schools, these students are from a charter school that pays for their college credit courses so long as they get good grades.

The result: Parents often encourage their kids to pile on as many courses as possible, then put even more pressure on them to perform despite those heavy loads — a pressure that gets even more intense throughout the semester, since their parents are on the hook for the cost if they don’t pass.

Their experiences highlight both the promise and peril of early college and dual credit programs, which have expanded dramatically over the last two decades — from roughly 300,000 students in the early 2000s to nearly 2.5 million in the 2022-23 school year.

Particularly in rural areas, such programs are embraced as a way to fill key workforce needs faster while also helping low-income students more affordably access postsecondary credits and credentials.

But as these models grow, researchers are discovering both their strengths and limitations. Here are three critical questions that came up in my recent reporting on dual-enrollment programs.

What happens when you tell an 8th grader they aren’t college material?

In many states, students are required to pass various competency tests in order to take college courses and earn credits — a requirement historically intended for high school graduates, now being applied to students as early as 8th grade.

Greene says she has made a concerted effort to reach those students who don’t make the cut later, keeping up with them through their high school advisors and making sure they are intentional in their course scheduling.

In South Carolina, students who didn’t qualify in 8th grade can later qualify for dual enrollment if they complete certain high school credits early.

“Here at least, the percentage of students who are denied is small. And even if they don’t have the placement scores, they can get in once they have all their English and Math requirements done,” Greene says.

Still, there is very little direct research into the college-going rates and career outcomes of students who were denied dual enrollment opportunities after expressing interest earlier on — and even less into the types of interventions that can support them down the line.

How does location shape the impact of dual enrollment?

Ask Julie Edmunds, and she’ll start by making sure you’re actually talking about the same thing.

Dual credit typically refers to taking college courses, either from a licensed high school teacher or a nearby professor. Early College can be much more comprehensive, with wrap-around support services and a very different four-year experience.

“In North Carolina, these are separate high schools located on college campuses,” says Edmunds, director of the Early College Research Center at UNC-Greensboro.

Definitions can often shift across state lines, making it difficult to study nationwide.

One consistent finding? That economically-disadvantaged, rural students can stand the most to gain.

"An Early College in Chapel Hill, where students already have a lot of resources, probably wouldn't make a big difference for that student population," Edmunds notes.

"In rural settings, students are more likely to take dual enrollment and it typically makes a bigger difference for them, because they often don't have a lot of alternatives for taking these higher-level courses.”

What’s the impact on students who struggle or drop out?

Not every student thrives in dual enrollment. Edmunds suggest that some students may benefit from being in an ordinary educational environment for longer before taking on college courses.

Those who start Early College programs, but leave within the first two years, may actually be less likely to pursue a postsecondary education in the long-run.

About 12-13% of students who enroll in early college programs leave within the first 1-2 years. While this is comparable to typical school mobility rates, the consequences can be more severe, with some studies showing negative impacts on bachelor's degree attainment and even employment outcomes.

"We actually see some negative impacts on those populations," Edmunds reports. "Students who go to an Early College and then are either encouraged to leave by the institution or make the decision to leave — those students might develop a negative perspective about college."

In Orangeburg, Greene says that a worrisome number of her 519 Early College students are struggling under the weight of their course loads and other stressors.

Before the midpoint of the last fall semester, she had seen 67 academic alerts, reports that are issued when a student is missing assignments, failing a course, or showing other risk factors.

One honors student had been given priority status because they were showing significant mental health issues, and hasn’t been able to rely on her family or friends for support.

“We’re thinking these Early College kids are coming in with support, but they often don’t,” Greene says.

02: Roadside Attractions

• Rural gathering. A recent event at Clemson University brought together rural education experts from across the country, with insights into rural identity, misconceptions, and more — spearheaded by Darris Means, the university’s inaugural Dean’s Fellow for Rural Education at Clemson University.

• Mounting challenges. “The combination of declining enrollment, financial challenges, and systemic underfunding is impacting the educational landscape for rural students, leaving them with fewer options and fewer pathways to upward mobility,” writes Erik Cliburn, in the March edition of Insight and Diversity.

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