Early College High Schools

The goal of early college high schools (ECHS) is to prepare underserved students for college. ECHS students are not only college ready but actually earn transferable college credits while still in high school. The initiative creates places where high school and college meet to provide the personalized, coherent education and meaningful credentials for students on a path to college and work success. The ECHS initiative which is connected with the small–schools movement, was stimulated through funding by the Gates Foundation in the early 2000s and constituted one type of significant high school reform, especially for urban students. Although there are ECHS and accelerated programs for high–achieving students, a more recent movement targets those traditionally underserved in higher education. ECHS are a phenomenon designed so that first–generation college–goers, students of color, English language learners, low–income youth, and other young people underrepresented in higher education are given supports needed for high school and college success. All ECHS are expected to enroll students underrepresented in postsecondary education, including those who have not had access to academic preparation for college readiness and students who cannot afford college.

The ECHS initiative is sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) in partnership with the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Ford Foundation, and the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. The nonprofit action/research and policy organization Jobs for the Future (JFF) oversees and facilitates the work of the ECHS initiative. JFF formed partnerships with 13 ECHS initiative partners to create small schools that offer students the opportunity to graduate from high school while earning an associate's degree or up to 60 college credits toward a bachelor's degree. Initiative partners have included: Center for Native Education; City University of New York; Communities Foundation of Texas/Texas High School Project; Foundation for California Community Colleges; Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia; KnowledgeWorks Foundation; Middle College National Consortium; National Council of La Raza; North Carolina New Schools Project; Portland Community College's Gateway to College; SECME, Inc.; Utah Partnership for Education; and Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation.

Each of the initiative partners was charged with adhering to a set of core principles as it established ECHSs. These five interrelated principles were revised in 2008 by representatives from the BMGF, JFF, and the state and regional intermediaries listed above.