Bard College to Participate in New Dual Enrollment Pell Grant Pilot Program Announced Today by the U.S. Department of Education
 

ANNANDALE-N-HUDSON, N.Y. – Bard College has been chosen to participate in a federal pilot program, announced today by the U.S. Department of Education, to expand college access for low-income students by allowing high school students taking college courses to access Federal Pell Grants. Bard’s participation will focus on its Early College High School in Newark, NJ.
 
 “Dual enrollment programs are powerful ways to introduce rigorous coursework to students and show these students that they are smart enough, talented enough, and prepared enough to tackle higher education. Dual enrollment programs are game-changers for all students – especially those are first-generation or from low-income families,” said Education Under Secretary Ted Mitchell. “Through this experiment, we hope to learn how the availability of Pell Grants affects student participation and success in dual enrollment programs.”
 
Bard College is a pioneer in early college education, which falls under the umbrella of dual enrollment, as Bard founded one of the first early college high schools in the nation, Bard High School Early College, in 2001 in New York City, and now operates a national network of early colleges. Bard’s network of early colleges now includes seven locations in five states: dual-degree campuses in New York (Manhattan and Queens); Newark, NJ; Cleveland, OH; and Baltimore, MD; and programs in New Orleans, LA, and the Harlem Children’s Zone in New York City. Through Bard’s early college high schools, students are able to earn both high school degrees and up to 60 college credits and an Associate in Arts degree from Bard College, at no cost to participants. This dual enrollment experimental site will help Bard to build on its success and help more low-income students gain a head start on college.
 
"Bard College applauds the U.S. Department of Education for launching the dual enrollment experimental site and is honored to participate. Bard is proud to be a pioneer in the early college movement, which has proven highly successful in helping young people access, afford, and complete higher education,” said Bard College President Leon Botstein. “Using Pell Grants to support high-quality early college and dual enrollment programs will allow many more of these programs to develop and expand access to low-income students, thereby furthering their chances of completing college. We believe this should be the future of education in our country, and we hope the experimental site will help guide policy toward that end." 
 
John Weinstein, Principal of Bard High School Early College Newark and Dean of the Early Colleges: "I am honored and excited that Bard High School Early College Newark has been selected for the dual enrollment experimental site. Our school has demonstrated that high-school-aged students can earn college credits; our Class of 2015 earned 4,121.  Harnessing Pell Grant funding is an important step in bringing financial stability to early college programs like ours, enabling future graduating classes to earn and transfer even more college credits and degrees."
 
ABOUT BARD EARLY COLLEGES
 
Bard High School Early Colleges (BHSECs) are four-year, dual-degree public early colleges 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 college students in what otherwise would be 11^th and 12^th grades and earn up to 60 transferable college credits and an Associate in Arts (A.A.) degree from Bard College concurrently with their high school diplomas.

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.
 
ABOUT BARD COLLEGE
 
Bard College is an independent, non-profit, four-year college of the liberal arts and sciences located in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY. Founded in 1860, Bard offers undergraduate degrees in more than 50 academic programs in four divisions as well as graduate degrees.  Bard has a strong tradition of civic engagement and public interest programming, and operates dual degree programs worldwide. Its early college programs serve more than 2,000 students in seven locations.
  
5/16/2016
 

This event was last updated on 05-16-2016

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