There are many strategic benefits that can be derived from a partnership program between a community college and regional high schools to offer early college credit to qualified students. Institutional research at North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC) finds that these "acceleration programs" are improving student outcomes in a number of areas, including academic achievement, graduation and job placement. In this article, the author discusses the benefits of acceleration based on NIACC's research. The author believes that acceleration serves as one of the nation's strategic assets to win the battle against the following perfect storms that are looming across America: (1) workforce shortages; (2) lower educational attainment; (3) global competition; and (4) US economy is losing ground in the world's economy.