
Early College High School Initiative
Early college is a bold approach to high school reform, based on the principle that academic rigor, combined with the opportunity to save time and money, is a powerful motivator for students to work hard and meet serious intellectual challenges. Early college schools blend high school and college in a rigorous, yet supportive program, compressing the time it takes to complete a high school diploma and the first two years of college.
The schools are designed so that low-income youth, first-generation college goers, English language learners, students of color, and other young people underrepresented in higher education can simultaneously earn a high school diploma and one to two years of transferable college credit—tuition free.
Today, the Early College High School Initiative includes 270 schools serving more than 75,000 students in 28 states. For student results and demographics, CLICK HERE.
Publication References
- Launching Early College Districtwide: Pharr-San Juan-Alamo's "College for All" Strategy
- Hidalgo Early College District Toolkit
- Designing STEM Pathways through Early College: Ohio's Metro Early College High School
- Early College Designs
- Life Beyond Early College: Strategies for Success (webinar)
- Early College Graduates: Adapting, Thriving, and Leading in College
- Unconventional Wisdom: A Profile of the Graduates of Early College High School
- Making the Grade: Texas Early College High Schools Prepare Students for College
- Accelerating College Readiness: Lessons from North Carolina's Innovator Early Colleges
- A Portrait in Numbers
- Early College Designs: Expanding a Strategy for Achieving College for All (webinar)
- College Success for All: How the Hidalgo Independent School District Is Adopting Early College as a District-wide Strategy
- A Policymaker’s Guide to Early College Designs: Expanding a Strategy for Achieving College Readiness for All
- Using Non-Cognitive Assessments to Help Underserved Students Transition to College
- Early-College High Schools Beat the Odds
- Policies Paved the Way: Early College Innovation in North Carolina
- Innovations in College Readiness: How Early College Schools are Preparing Students Underrepresented in Higher Education for College Success
- High School/Dual Enrollment Programs: Testimony Before the U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor
- Early College Students Surprise with Their Poise and Achievements
- Early College High School Initiative Core Principles
- College and Career Readiness for All Texas High School Graduates
- Lessons from the Lone Star State: Designing a Sustainable Financial Model to Expand Early College High School in Texas
- Ensuring College Success: Scaffolding Experiences for Students and Faculty in an Early College School
- Leveraging Postsecondary Partners to Build a College-Going Culture: Tools for High School/Postsecondary Partnerships
- Empowering Students: How Georgia College Early College Changes Student Aspirations
- Rigor Plus Support: How Science Teachers Use Literacy Techniques to Get Students Ready for College
- Return on Investment in Early College High Schools
- Smoothing the Path: Changing State Policies to Support Early College High School
- Teaching Early College High School at LaGuardia Community College
- It's Kind of Different: Student Experiences in Two Early College High Schools
- Designing and Financing an Integrated Program of College Study: Lessons from the California Academy of Liberal Studies
- Integrating Grades 9 Through 14: State Policies to Support and Sustain Early College High Schools
- What Is the Cost of Planning and Implementing Early College High School?
- The Early College High School Concept: Requisites for Success



