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Dual enrollment (DE) programs allow high school students to take college coursework and simultaneously earn both high school and college credit. These programs have become increasingly popular in recent decades, with roughly one-third of high school students taking at least one DE course. However, the financial implications of taking DE courses have been an understudied yet important topic in higher education scholarship that can inform conversations surrounding ways to improve the affordability of higher education in the United States. Given the prevalent and long-lasting negative impact of heavy loan debt on college students, especially among low-income students and students of color, it is critical to reduce students' reliance on student loans with equity-minded interventions and policy responses. This study examines the relationship between DE and students' borrowing behaviors by exploring the following overarching research questions: (1) To what extent is DE course-taking related to the level of cumulative student loan debt? and (2) How does the relationship vary for students from underserved backgrounds?

Previous studies have shown that state performance funding policies do not increase baccalaureate degree production, but higher education scholarship lacks a rigorous, quantitative analysis of the unintended consequences of performance funding. In this article, we use difference-in-differences estimation with fixed effects to evaluate performance funding in Indiana. We find that performance funding did not increase the number of graduates and instead led to declining admission rates and increased selectivity at Indiana's public universities. When compared with surrounding states, we find limited evidence that the effects of performance funding could disproportionately limit college access for Indiana's low-income and minority applicants.