What Higher Education Can Learn from Early College High School Programs

Early each morning, across the nation, high school-aged students are brought onto college campuses to take classes as part of early college high school programs. In some cases, they arrive a few at a time, hopping out of their cars in whatever traffic loops are available; in others, a school bus drops a long scraggly line of students off for their classes all at once. All of these students have a few things in common—they are adjusting to a new environment, navigating a system quite different from their high school, and earning credits towards their future college career on the campus itself. While dual enrollment classes offered at high schools can have similar benefits to AP classes (tuition saved, credits earned), we believe that high school students being on a college campus has an extra impact, giving students a true taste of college life.