Report: Rural high school students in Florida more likely to earn college credit than urban ones

Sarah Gonzalez of State Impact reports an interesting story in Florida that could be a topic in many states: performance of rural students versus urban students in college-level classes. High-school teachers in rural Florida counties say they can't afford to offer as many college-level classes to their students as urban schools, but rural students are more likely to earn college credit for the courses they do take.

Florida schools are partly graded by the state education department based on a formula that gives points to schools for participation and performance in college-level classes, which includes advanced placement, international baccalaureate or dual enrollment classes. Out of 1,600 possible total points, the state gave 175 points for participation and 125 for performance, which is measured by whether students actually earn college credit for the courses they take, based upon a test at the end of the year.

State Impact picked out schools that were graded A through F in urban and rural counties to compare. Gonzalez reports urban schools have higher participation but students are less likely to earn college credits. Reasons for this are unclear, but Gonzalez offers two: rural students only take one to two college-level classes at one time and the class sizes are smaller.