Early College High Schools

Early college high schools are changing the future — for the students who graduate well-prepared and for a state that needs a well-educated workforce like never before. Typically located on the campus of a two- or four-year college or university, these innovative schools aim to graduate students who earn a high school diploma as well as two years of transferable college credit or an associate degree — all at no cost to their families. The target population for early colleges is first-generation college-goers, those at-risk of dropping out or other historically underserved populations.

J.D. Clement Early College High School graduation, Durham

Developed in partnership with state departments of instruction, community college systems and university systems, the early college high school initiative encourages more students to complete high school and to gain the advanced skills increasingly demanded in the 21st century workplace. Early college high schools support students through what effectively become their first two years of college — typically the most vulnerable period for students from low-income families. Because students earn two years of college credit without paying tuition, early colleges also lift the financial barrier students and families often face when considering college.

Strategies That Make a Difference

NC New Schools/Breakthrough Learning works with educators in early college high schools to:

Embed academic and behavioral supports into schools to ensure high expectations for all students
Cultivate partnerships with higher education so that students can earn dual credit for high school and college classes, leading to two years of transferable college credit or an associate degree
Align curriculum requirements between high school and college for a coherent progression
Encourage students’ college-going identity so that they believe in their future success

The approach is working:

Graduation rates are high and dropout rates low across all demographic groups.
Students demonstrate strong success on state assessments and in their college classes.
Early findings of an in-depth study show that virtually all students are on track for college by 9th grade and that achievement gaps (between white and minority students, advantaged and disadvantaged) are disappearing in critical subjects such as Algebra I.
More than 1000 associate degrees were conferred to early college students in 2015.
Early college high schools savings to families:

Scaling Success

NC New Schools/Breakthrough Learning serves 82 of the roughly 200 early college high schools that cover the nation. As we help to develop regional schools and district-wide efforts, these early college strategies are also being extended into conventional schools.

Schools are expanding these strategies across the state. Setting high expectations and supporting all students to reach them is important for all schools. The successful approaches that early college high schools have helped pioneer are now being adopted by traditional high schools in a number of rural, low-income parts of the state through our Rural Innovative Schools initiative. The unique $16.5 million effort, supported by a $15 million grant under the U.S. Department of Education’s Investing in Innovation initiative and private funding, is aimed at exposing all high school students to a college-ready culture and creating new opportunities for all students to graduate from high school with some college credit.