Understand the dual enrollment student experience—from access and preparation to learning, belonging, and future plans.
The Dual Enrollment Survey of Student Engagement, or DESSE, provides insight into how high school students experience college courses taken for both high school and college credit. DESSE examines students’ experiences with college-level learning, academic expectations, advising, support services, relationships, belonging, and preparation for future education and career opportunities.
DESSE results help colleges identify strengths and gaps in the dual enrollment experience, examine differences among student groups and program models, and work with school partners to strengthen access, student support, and pathways into college.
About DESSE
Dual enrollment is an increasingly important point of entry into higher education. Through dual enrollment, high school students take college courses and earn both high school and college credit, often at little or no cost to them.
DESSE is an online survey designed specifically for students participating in dual enrollment. It gives colleges direct information about how students experience their college courses and the academic and student supports associated with them.
Student-reported data provide information that enrollment and completion records alone cannot capture. DESSE can help colleges and their K–12 partners better understand students’ preparation, engagement, relationships, access to support, sense of belonging, and plans for continued education.
Why DESSE?
Enrollment and outcome data can tell colleges who participates in dual enrollment and whether students complete their courses. Those data do not fully explain how students experience college-level expectations, instruction, advising, support, relationships, and belonging.
DESSE gives colleges direct insight into those experiences. The findings can help colleges and their school partners identify where students are well supported, where experiences differ across student groups or program models, and where changes may strengthen access, engagement, and long-term success.
How Colleges Use DESSE Data
Colleges use DESSE data to:
- Understand the dual enrollment experience
Examine how students experience college coursework, instruction, advising, academic and student supports, relationships, belonging, and preparation for future education and career opportunities.
- Identify barriers and gaps
Disaggregate results to identify differences in access, engagement, support, and belonging among student groups, high schools, course locations, delivery formats, and dual enrollment arrangements.
- Strengthen programs and partnerships
Use shared findings to support conversations among college leaders, faculty, dual enrollment staff, school partners, and student support professionals and to monitor the effects of program improvements over time.
Project Governance
DESSE is a product and service of the Center for Community College Student Engagement (CCCSE), which is part of the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy at The University of Texas at Austin.
