If you’ve been reading the updates coming from the Office of the Education Pipeline, you know that the work we are doing is like SUNY itself: broad, expansive, and striving to serve every single student in the State of New York. With our diverse programs and initiatives, it’s sometimes easy to get bogged down in the details and miss the “so what?” portion of our stories.
With that in mind, we’ve put together some impressive achievements that we think will show you why you should be paying attention!
“Thank you to all of the Smart Scholars programs for participating in another successful Early College High School Week and to those who celebrate all year long by continuing to provide a quality and rigorous education to traditionally underrepresented students. To the school districts, for making early college a priority in your communities; to the teachers and faculty, for putting your students on the fast track to success through college and career readiness; and to the students, for working hard to ensure a brighter future for you and your families.”
-Andrea Mulkey, Director of Early College, SUNY/EDWorks
Preparing students for college-readiness and a career in Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) is not only a priority in the Governor’s 2013-2014 Executive Budget but also a program focus in 11 of New York’s Smart Scholars Early College High Schools. Since the program’s inception in Fall 2010, over 3,000 STEM-focused credits have been earned by over 1,000 students state-wide. We are pleased to introduce you to some of the Smart Scholars graduating from STEM-focused ECHSs.
SUNY’s Early College High School partnership with EDWorks and the State Education Department began when the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation funded a $6 million grant to launch New York’s Smart Scholars Initiative in late 2009. The mission was to make earning college credits accessible to traditionally underrepresented high school students and motivate students to not only graduate high school, but also pursue a higher education.
Nationally, The Early College High School Initiative has had enormous success. Serving a population encompassing 77% students of color, 57% students from low-income households and 45% first generation college goers, the average early college graduate earns 36 credits or 30% of a Bachelors degree and 60% of an Associate’s degree.
New York State’s 23 Smart Scholars programs have made it possible for over 5,100 students to earn over 8,723 transferable college credits in just two years. In honor of ECHS Week and the accomplishments Smart Scholars state-wide, we would like to highlight our longest running Early College High Schools, including the nation’s oldest, Bard High School Early College.
The SUNY/EDWorks partnership is excited to showcase our 23 state-wide Early College High School programs. We are very proud of our Smart Scholars and the hard work they put in to be ready for college and career. We look forward to sharing their stories with you.
We will kick off this week by highlighting a few inspirational students and faculty, which you can read about below. Please tune in the rest of the week for the history of the programs, individual achievements, program developments and coverage of the ECHS Week activities all week long!
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