Among all high school graduates in the Class of 2024 in the State of Louisiana, three out of every four graduated having already racked up credits towards college degrees or certifications. The 75% rate is an 11-point increase from 2019. Tristan Denley, the deputy commissioner for academic affairs and innovation at the Louisiana Board of Regents, says high school students can earn college credit in a number of ways.
“To be AP courses, if they took a CLEP exam, or if they did international baccalaureate courses,” Denley said.
Denley says while the vast majority of dual enrollment courses were taken in the aforementioned academic fields, nearly one out of every five students who took dual enrollment courses took courses in career and technical fields.
“The students might take some kind of industry-based certification, like a CompTIA A+ certificate around cybersecurity or maybe they take an NCCER electrician I certificate to get them ready to be an electrician,” Denley explained.
Denley says the overwhelming success of the initiative has the state optimistic about achieving its ultimate goal of every student graduating with dual enrollment credits.
“By 2030, every student would graduate from high school with either some kind of college credit on their transcript or an industry-based certification or short-term workforce credential,” Denley said.