Purpose: Jointly operated by school districts and postsecondary institutions, Early Colleges are either whole school program or programs within schools designed to serve students traditionally underrepresented in higher education. The Early College High School Initiative was established in 2002 by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, along…

This report describes results from the Long-Term Impact of Early College High Schools Study--funded by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) (#R305A210017)--which aimed to explore the long-term impacts of early college (EC) high schools on students' academic outcomes (e.g., college enrollment, degree attainment) and workforce, financial, and…

Early colleges are a model of schooling that combines the high school and college experiences, providing students the opportunity to simultaneously earn a high school diploma and an associate degree or 2 years of college credit. This article updates findings from a 17-year longitudinal experimental study of the model, examining the impact of the…

Policymakers' solutions to the problem of inequitable access to postsecondary institutions often focus on the financial barriers students face. However, other barriers are just as significant. Students may face barriers in the logistical aspect of applying to college. They may not have the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in college…

Early Colleges (ECs) provide high school students access to college coursework with the goal of increasing postsecondary opportunities for traditionally underrepresented students. We examine the impact of ECs on postsecondary attainment, calculate the resulting monetary benefits, and then estimate the per-student costs of ECs compared to…

Early colleges are an innovative model of schooling that combines high school and college. A 14-year, rigorous experimental study has been examining whether this model works. The study compares early college students who were accepted through a lottery to students who applied to early colleges but were not accepted through the lottery (the control…

Advancing in key courses in ninth grade is an early, crucial step in preparing for college. Students who miss academic targets early in high school may not be ready to go to college 4 years later. In the United States, when students fail key courses in ninth grade, they may struggle to catch up to their peers who successfully took and passed these…

Developed in response to concerns that too few students were enrolling and succeeding in postsecondary education, early college high schools are small schools that blur the line between high school and college. This article presents results from a longitudinal experimental study comparing outcomes for students accepted to an early college through…

Building on a previous randomized experiment of the impact of Early Colleges (ECs) (Berger et al., 2013), this follow-up study assessed longer-term impacts of ECs on students' postsecondary outcomes 6 years after expected high school graduation. It also explored the extent to which students' high school experiences mediate EC impacts.…

Utilizing a lottery-based natural experiment, this study assessed the longer-term impact of early colleges on postsecondary degree attainment. It found that early colleges significantly increased the overall degree completion and associate degree completion rates within 10 years of expected high school graduation. While the impact on bachelor's…

In many countries, novice teachers, or those with fewer than four years of experience, have a higher turnover rate than do more experienced teachers. Using teacher employment data, we examine whether schools in an American whole-school reform model are better able to retain novice teachers. Using survey data, we investigate whether novice teachers…

Early colleges are a new model of schooling in which the high school and college experiences are merged, shortening the total amount of time a student spends in school. This study uses a lottery-based experimental design to examine the impact of the model on longer term outcomes, including attainment of a postsecondary credential and academic…

Early colleges are a new model of schooling in which the high school and college experiences are merged, shortening the total amount of time a student spends in school. This study uses a lottery-based experimental design to examine the impact of the model on longer term outcomes, including attainment of a postsecondary credential and academic…

This article utilizes mixed methods--a lottery-based experimental design supplemented by qualitative data--to examine college readiness within an innovative high school setting: early college high schools. Early colleges are small schools that merge the high school and college experiences and are targeted at students underrepresented in college.…

Developed in response to concerns that too few students were enrolling and succeeding in postsecondary education, early college high schools are small schools that blur the line between high school and college. This article presents results from a longitudinal experimental study comparing outcomes for students accepted to an early college through…