The Impact of North Carolina’s Early College Model

• In Event: Merging High School and College: How Early College High Schools Are Changing Our Educational Systems

Abstract

Objectives: Early college high school is a comprehensive school reform model designed to target students underrepresented in the college-going population. In North Carolina, early colleges are typically located on the campuses of postsecondary educational institutions, where they blend high school and college experiences to provide an academically rigorous course of study.
This paper examines the following questions:
•Are students who attend early colleges more likely to complete high school ready for college?
•Are students who attend early colleges more likely to attain a postsecondary degree?
•Do results differ by demographic group?
Perspective: In North Carolina, early college high schools are designed to prepare all students for enrollment and success in postsecondary education. With academic rigor, all students prepare to academic demands of college work. Because these high schools are located on college campuses, students learn how to use college resources, and how to interact with faculty. Particularly for first generation college goers, spending time on a college campus, may help them see themselves as college students. By providing extensive college counseling, the early college helps students manage the application process. By attaining multiple college credits while in high school, students can reduce the cost of college.
Method: This paper uses analyses from a multi-site, lottery-based experimental study of early colleges. It employs data from 19 sites, each of which used student-level random assignment to accept 8th graders. Longitudinal data permit following them for 6 years after completing 12th grade. To compare outcomes for early college students with traditional students, we ran a series of multivariate regression models with each outcome measure as the dependent variable. Models included baseline covariates and a treatment group indicator, which yielded the estimated impact of the early college on that outcome. We examined results overall and separately for subgroups of students: economically disadvantaged students, first-generation college goers, and underrepresented minority students.
Data: We linked applicant data to measures routinely collected by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, including students’ race, sex, and economic disadvantage status and then to records from the North Carolina Community College system to determine the number of dual credits they earned and to the National Student Clearinghouse find out about their college enrollment and attainment.
Results: This study found positive impacts of the early college model during both high school and college. In high school, early college students had higher rates of progressing through college preparatory courses and much higher rates of earning college credits. Additionally they had better attendance and lower suspension rates. After high school, students were more likely to enroll in college and three times as likely to earn an associate degree. Economically disadvantaged students were more likely to earn a bachelors’ degree.
Significance: This rigorous study demonstrates that this educational model combining high school and college experiences increases college readiness and success, particularly those underrepresented in college.

Author

• Elizabeth J. Glennie, RTI International