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Home REL Northeast & Islands About REL Northeast & Islands New York Partnership to Support Equity in Early College Programs
New York Partnership to Support Equity in Early College Programs
Postsecondary enrollment in New York’s public colleges and universities has declined nearly 20% over the past decade.1 Given that earning a postsecondary degree leads to improved economic outcomes,2 policy leaders in New York state are interested in ways to bolster postsecondary enrollment, particularly for groups historically underrepresented in higher education. One evidence-based method to increase postsecondary enrollment is early college high schools.3, 4, 5, 6 Early college high schools are schools designed to allow students to simultaneously work toward both a high school diploma and an associate degree or other college credential, at no cost, through an organized course of study. The early college model is based upon a partnership between a local education agency and at least one higher education institution. New York has funded three early college high school programs—Pathways in Technology Early College High Schools, or P-TECH (since 2014), Smart Scholars (since 2010) and Smart Transfer (since 2018). Educational leaders in New York want to better understand their state-funded early college programs in terms of program access, participation, and student outcomes, with a particular focus on understanding if the programs are available to and utilized by underrepresented groups.
Over the next three years, REL Northeast & Islands will partner with the New York State Department of Education and other stakeholders to better understand the extent to which students from underrepresented groups have access to and are enrolling in the state’s early college programs, as well as the outcomes experienced by participating students. The partnership activities will also include identifying barriers to early college program implementation and factors that facilitate it, as well as sharing findings with a national audience.
Partner Organizations: New York State Department of Education, New York higher education institutions, and New York districts and Boards of Cooperative Educational Services
1 Office of the New York State Comptroller (2023). 2023 Financial Condition Report. https://www.osc.ny.gov/reports/finance/2023-fcr
2 Oreopoulos, P., & Petronijevic, U. (2013). Making college worth it: A review of research on the returns to higher education. The Future of Children, 23(1), 41-65.
3 Atchison, D., Zeiser, K. L., Mohammed, S., Knight, D. S., & Levin, J. (2021). The costs and benefits of early college high schools. Education Finance and Policy, 16(4), 659-689.
4 Berger, A., Turk-Bicakci, L., Garet, M., Song, M., Knudson, J., Haxton, C., Zeiser, K., Hoshen, G., Ford, J., Stephan, J., Keating, K., & Cassidy, L. (2013). Early college, early success: Early college high school initiative impact study. Washington, DC: American Institutes for Research.
5 Dixon, M., & Rosen, R. (2022). On Ramp to college: Dual enrollment impacts from the evaluation of New York City's P-TECH 9-14 Schools. New York: MDRC.
6 Song, M., & Zeiser, K. L. (2019). Early college, continued success: Longer-term impact of early college high schools. Washington, DC: American Institutes for Research.
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