So my S19 did a program somewhat like this. He went to a regional Governor’s STEM school his Jr. and Sr. year for his math and science classes. All these classes were dual enrolled at the local community college but taught on the campus of the Gov school. All the DE classes were weighted like an AP class and considered to be at or above AP level. The math was above since it went past calc BC (MV, LA, and DiffEQ). The science classes gave him more transfer credits than if he had taken the similar AP class/test. He was able to transfer almost all of his credits (+50) from OOS to Ga Tech. He did not get an associates, but entered as a sophomore and will be considered a Jr. credit wise next semester. From the college acceptances that came out of his Gov school class of 81 (every Ivy, MIT, Cal Tech, CMU, GT, Stanford, UCB, UVA, UNC, Duke, WashU, UT-A), I would say that the schools had no problem with classes compared to AP. Now many of the kids took the AP test for their equivalent subject knowing the might not be able to transfer credits.
I’m honestly not an expert on these different kinds of programs (my kids are long out of high school) but I am curious that your assumption is that the grades from the DE program will enter into their college GPA. Is that what you have been told? Because I and my family have had a lot of experience with transferring, and the GPA definitely did not include classes from other schools. Has that more recently changed?
Colleges typically do not include grades from transfer credit into the GPA that they calculate for their own purposes (e.g. academic honors, academic probation/dismissal, GPA needed to enter a major that is enrolled to capacity). Of course, a student who matriculates to the same college after taking courses from that college while in high school will see those grades count toward his/her GPA at that college.
However, professional schools (e.g. medical and law) will recalculate GPA using all colleges attended as an undergraduate, including college courses taken while in high school.
In our area the dual credit programs are less rigorous than the IB high school or magnet school with many required AP classes. The dual credit students tend to apply to in state colleges that accept their credits while the AP and IB students apply to and attend a wider variety colleges and universities including private schools and elite in and out of state colleges. I would expect that any program that is less rigorous would be less stressful if that is what you are looking for. Attending a diverse high school is also an enriching experience. However, the AP credits are more of a universal standard that indicates readiness for success at elite colleges. The dual credits need to be evaluated on a case by case basis.