Understanding the Community College Concurrent Enrollment Instructor Credentialing Cliff from the High School Administrators’ Perspective: A Qualitative Study Utilizing Principal-Agent Theory

Abstract

ABSTRACT Roughly half of liberal arts concurrent enrollment (CE) instructors partnering with community colleges in some locations under the Higher Learning Commission’s (HLC) accreditation are in jeopardy of losing their credentials due to an update of CE credentialing standards. High school administrators responsible for CE programming and affected by this credentialing update were interviewed for this research. Through the theoretical framework of principal-agent theory, along with comparing findings on the issue from the authors’ previous study on the topic from the CE instructor perspective, the authors share findings around the thoughts, actions, and recommendations of the CE high school administrators on this issue. Implications for the field and recommendations for policy changes further research are offered.