In response to the rising cost of higher education, as well as the average time of six years to obtain a 4-year bachelor's degree, lawmakers, educators, and students have turned to credit-based collegiate programs as a potential solution. Dual credit is the most popular means to accumulate college credits at a lower cost. The body of research is limited concerning the impact that dual credit hours have for students once they leave the high school environment and enroll at 4-year universities. Specifically, there is limited data on the articulation of dual credit to student degree plans at the postsecondary level. In this study, the articulation patterns of dual credit courses to student degree plans in a public Texas institution of higher education were examined. The majority (91.94%) of dual credit courses counted towards student degree credit. Sixty-one of the 757 dual credit courses examined for this study were not articulated for student degree credit. Dual credit courses designated as core were more likely to articulate for student degree credit than dual credit courses that were designated as non-core. This study found that the lack of consistent General Education Core requirements between the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, the differences in the requirements of the institutions providing the dual credit programs, and the differences in the requirements of the institutions of higher education granting bachelor's degree resulted in core dual credit courses that were not articulated for student degree credit. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]