Early College Initiative

Early College Initiative

Contact Us

Stephen Tremaine,
Vice President for Early College Policies and Programs
E-mail: tremaine@bard.edu 

Clara Haskell Botstein,
Director of Early College Strategy
E-mail: cbotstein@bard.edu

Why Early College?

The early college model pioneered by Bard College is an innovative public-private partnership that increases access to and success in college for diverse student populations and saves thousands of dollars for students, families, and government.

An Excellent Education

A high-quality school model that works

Academic Outcomes:
Academic Outcomes Graph

Bard's early colleges employ the academic resources of a private college to improve public secondary school education.

Bard's early colleges have more than a 10-year record of success in helping students from diverse backgrounds access and thrive in college. In Bard’s early colleges, college faculty teach the high school and college classes in an integrated academic program in the arts and sciences. The classes are discussion-based seminars that focus on developing students’ writing and critical thinking skills through inquiry-based and experiential learning.
  • Seventy percent of faculty members in Bard's early colleges have a Ph.D.
  • Student-teacher ratios in Bard's early colleges are approximately 20 to 1.
  • All students take a four-semester seminar sequence in the humanities.
  • Bard's early colleges offer a wide variety of college electives in social science, math, science, language, and the arts.
  • Bard's early colleges have state-of-the-art laboratory equipment.

Cost Savings

Bard's early colleges save students and governments thousands of dollars due to the accumulation of college credits during high school.

  • Bard’s early colleges can save up to approximately $27,200 for students at public colleges and $72,600 for students at private colleges due to the reduction in time required to bachelor's degree completion.
  • Bard’s early colleges save money for public colleges and universities due to the reduction in time to degree completion and the absence of remediation among students—up to approximately $22,000 per student for public bachelor’s degree–granting institutions.

The model also leverages public and private resources to provide an associate's degree at a much lower cost than at traditional colleges and universities.

Average Cost of an Associate's Degree:
Source: National Association of College and University Business Officers, 2002 Cost of College Study