(KLZA)-- The Nebraska Statewide Workforce & Educational Reporting System has released of its first-ever special report, a comprehensive exploration of dual enrollment in Nebraska.

Dual enrollment, an increasingly popular option across the educational landscape, provides students with the opportunity to earn college credits while still in high school.

Dual enrollment is associated with positive academic outcomes including higher graduation rates in high school, higher levels of college enrollment and persistence, higher GPAs, and higher college graduation rates.

• Dual enrollment credit earners are more likely to attend college in Nebraska than non-dual enrollment credit earners.

  Dual enrollment credit earners complete more credits in their first year of college than students who did not earn dual enrollment credit.The more dual enrollment credits students earn in high school, the higher the college graduation rate and the sooner they graduate college.

Among the reports key findings are:

More than 27 percent of Nebraska students earn college credit before graduating from high school.

Dual enrollment participants and dual enrollment credit earners graduate from high school at higher rates than non-participants

More females than males take dual enrollment courses.

Dual enrollment credit earners are more likely to complete college on time.

High school students who participate in dual enrollment are more likely to enroll in college and persist when they get there.

Dual enrollment participants and dual enrollment credit earners perform better in both high school and college. In high school, dual enrollment participants have an average GPA of 3.4, where their counterparts average a 2.7 GPA. Likewise for both two-year and four-year college, GPAs are higher for dual enrollment participants versus those who did not participate in dual enrollment programs.

The data for this report comes from the Nebraska Statewide Workforce & Educational Reporting System.