The Promise of Early College

By Stephen Tremaine

The intensive efforts being made to help low-income students succeed in college aren’t adding up. Collectively, these failures amount to one of the most disastrous statistics in American education: In 2009, 89 percent of first-generation college students left college before earning a degree.

The disconnect between secondary and postsecondary institutions lies at the heart of the problem: Many high-poverty public high schools lack the resources to prepare students for college reading and writing requirements; many colleges and universities, meanwhile, are unaccustomed to extending meaningful academic opportunities beyond their campuses. In this way, low-income high schoolers are very often confronted by both the weakest bridge between high school and college and the widest gulf to cross.

The importance of collaboration between institutions of higher education and high schools is clear: When low-income students drop out of college, both secondary and postsecondary institutions have failed. In a national education climate more attuned than ever to college access and completion, we should vigorously pursue opportunities for direct collaboration between the institutions that run grades 9-12 and those...