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In April 2014, Tennessee garnered national attention and merited presidential endorsement by becoming the first state in two decades to promise free community college to all high school graduates beginning in the fall of 2015. The Tennessee Promise restructured the state lottery-based scholarships to provide five semesters of tuition-free community college for Tennessee high school graduates entering college the fall semester after graduation. This program was the latest in a series of educational reforms in Tennessee that implemented an agenda emphasizing economic development through college readiness and completion of postsecondary credentials. The success of Tennessee Promise as an engine of economic development depends upon the ability of students to use community colleges as legitimate pathways to universities and complete college in a timely manner because the funding is finite and it is the completed credentials that will drive economic development. However, the completion of community college is often not timely. [Rosenbaum and Rosenbaum (2015)] have shown that 46% of students who begin at community college do not complete in 8 years, only 33% complete an associate degree, and only 20% earn a bachelor's degree. These findings highlight the necessity of studies that help stakeholders understand community college students and factors that inhibit or promote student success.
Dual enrollment participation,[1] the earning of college course credit during high school, has been shown to benefit students in being college ready ([An, 2013b]; [Rodriguez, Hughes, & Belfield, 2012]) and in completing college ([An, 2013a]; [Giani, Alexander, & Reyes, 2014]; [Speroni, 2011a], [2011b]; [Struhl & Vargas, 2012]; [Swanson, 2008]; [Taylor, 2015])--the two factors essential in making the Tennessee Promise succeed. Furthermore, the participation in dual enrollment courses across the nation has grown tremendously ([Kleiner & Lewis, 2005]; [Marken, Gray, & Lewis, 2013]; [Thomas, Marken, Gray & Lewis, 2013]; [Waits, Setzer, & Lewis, 2005]). However, the literature does not address the benefit of dual enrollment participation on reducing remediation specifically at the community college except for one correlational study ([Kim & Bragg, 2008]). Similarly, studies examining benefit of dual enrollment participation on the completion of associate degrees are nearly as rare ([Speroni, 2011b]; [Struhl & Vargas, 2012]), with only one study examining timely completions at 3 years ([Struhl & Vargas, 2012]). There are no studies examining the impact...