The Success of Early College Programs

One trend during the past few years has been a increased number of alternatives for students---charter schools, and alternative schools. Perhaps one of the most successful has been the early college movement. Early college programs are most often located on community college campuses and students learn college-level content and early college credit. Early college graduates earn an average of 36 college credits for free which is a substantial part of the credit needed for a Bachelor's or Associate's degree.

Early college programs are very successful. A new report from Jobs for the Future (funded by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation) looked at early college programs and found that 93% of early college students graduate high school and 76% immediately enroll in college. Both indicators are far better than national public school data.

Early college programs serve many underserved students. More than half of student are from low-income families and more than 77% from minority families. What's most noteworthy is that early college programs prove that all students can be successful at college-level work regardless of their background.

More information about this report on early college programs can be found at the Jobs for the Future website and at the Jobs for the Future blog.