One thing you can do is call several college admissions offices and get their take. My daughter and/or I spoke to tons before making the decision. I basically learned that while no one guarantees anything they view AP/IB/DE the same for admission standards though actual credit can vary. They accept the gc perspective on rigor vs coming up with their own so your own high school gc can help with that.
I also found that some community colleges have matriculation agreements with private schools for certain majors. Other than the state school every private school said that they would transfer credits but they wouldn’t use the gpa. My daughter’s gpa was great but is not used at her current school.
Since our de is not at our high school there are some other considerations. I found it a good choice for my oldest but now that my youngest is in 10th grade I don’t find it as good of a choice for her. Thus far she hasn’t seriously mentioned it. She is happy taking one de class this fall but won’t do it in the spring because it is harder while she does a winter sport. Because we have a rotating schedule it is either all DE or just 1 a semester at night in addition to a full day of school.
One factor which may be important for some people to consider is cost of DE classes. My daugher’s were 100% free including book rentals. The only extra thing I paid for was $30 for a lab book because I felt it was much easier to be able to write in it. Anything else she would have needed at high school anyway. Actually I think the school charges towards AP tests (not full price) so that would have cost more. Location is also a factor for people doing DE on a college campus.