Bard High School Early Colleges (BHSECs) are four-year public schools that provide students with a two-year, tuition-free college course of study in the liberal arts and sciences following the 9th and 10th grades. BHSEC students are enrolled as full-time students and earn up to 60 transferable college credits and an Associate in Arts (A.A.) degree from Bard College concurrently with their high school diploma.
Mission
BHSECs offer an integrated academic program in which college faculty, the majority of whom hold Ph.D. degrees in their fields of study, teach both high school and college courses, all in one building. At the end of four years, students have completed their high school requirements and as much as the first two years of an undergraduate liberal arts education, at no cost to them or their families. Bard Early Colleges three core principles:
- Inspire and prepare high school-age students to become leaders across fields through a rigorous course of study that emphasizes critical thinking, writing, inquiry, and discourse.
- Increase college access, affordability, and completion for adolescents by allowing them to earn up to two years of tuition-free, transferable Bard College credits and an Associate’s degree.
- Bridge the gap between high school and college by bringing the key characteristics of liberal arts college classrooms to public school settings.
Transitions…to 9th grade, to the college program & to what comes next
