Early College Initiative

Early College Initiative

Contact Us

Stephen Tremaine, 
Vice President for Early College Policies and Programs
Email: tremaine@bard.edu 
Phone: (504) 940-4214

Clara Haskell Botstein, 
Director of Early College Strategy
Email: cbotstein@bard.edu
Phone: (914) 388-0699

Our Early College Programs

Bard Early Colleges offer sudents a liberal arts college education as part of their four-year public high school program. Students are taught by college faculty in undergraduate seminars and receive up to 60 college credits and an Associate in Arts degree from Bard College, concurrently with a high school diploma. Bard Early Colleges help students develop strong writing, analytical, and critical thinking skills and a foundation of knowledge in the liberal arts and sciences that prepare them for success in their academic and professional careers. Bard Early Colleges also save students and states thousands of dollars in reduced higher education costs, realized through the associate’s degree and the transfer of Bard credits from the early college to a four-year undergraduate institution.

Bard High School Early Colleges

Bard Early Colleges are partnerships between public school districts and Bard College, offering students a tuition-free, liberal arts college education as part of their four-year public high school program. Students are taught by college faculty in undergraduate seminars, and receive up to 60 college credits and an Associate in Arts degree from Bard College concurrently with a high school diploma. Bard High School Early Colleges are located in Manhattan, NY; Queens, NY; and Newark, NJ. 

 

Early College in New Orleans

Founded in 2008 as a partnership between Bard College and the Louisiana Department of Education, Bard Early College in New Orleans (BECNO) is a tuition-free satellite campus of Bard College operating within the New Orleans public school system. BECNO enrolls 11th and 12th graders as half-time undergraduates, allowing them to complete up to a year of college during the last two years of high school. BECNO students spend their mornings at conventional public high schools; after lunch, BECNO provides transportation to its two downtown campuses, where students enroll in Bard College-accredited courses across the undergraduate liberal arts curriculum.

Bard College at Simon's Rock

Bard College at Simon’s Rock has been a leader in the early college movement for more than 40 years. This private program in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, grants both the A.A. and B.A., and serves as the inspiration for Bard's public high school early college partnerships. Simon's Rock continues to distinguish itself as the only residential college in the country specifically designed to provide bright, highly motivated students with the opportunity to begin college immediately after the 10th or 11th grade.