Early college can boost college success rates for low-income,first-generation students

Abstract

Early college high school models are designed to encourage and assist traditionally underrepresented groups of students — low income, Latino, and African-American — to persist in and graduate from high school while earning college credit. Some of the models target high school dropouts, with the aim of helping them acquire the education and training that could lead to better outcomes. The authors review and discuss several such early college designs. By locating in or near a college campus, early colleges first introduce, gradually expose, and then immerse students in the college experience. These models have garnered support from the philanthropic community, which has helped the early college models spread and grow.