Bard High School Early College (BHSEC) is an early college school, with multiple campuses in the United States. The school allows students to begin their college studies two years early, graduating with a Bard College Associate in Arts degree in addition to their high school diploma. Students complete their high school studies in the ninth and tenth grade, after which point they begin taking credit-bearing college courses under the same roof. Unlike some dual-enrollment programs, students stay on the same campus for all four years, and both high school- and college-level courses are taught by the same faculty. Teachers at the Bard High School Early Colleges are both certified public school teachers as well as experienced academic scholars, often holding terminal degrees in their areas of study. The original campus, Bard High School Early College Manhattan, opened in New York City in 2001 as a partnership between Bard College and various local public school systems. There are currently six Bard High School Early College campuses across the country: BHSEC Manhattan, which opened in 2001, is located in the Lower East Side, Manhattan; BHSEC Queens, which opened in 2008, is located in Long Island City; BHSEC Newark, which opened 2011, is located in Newark, New Jersey; BHSEC Cleveland and BHSEC Cleveland East, which opened in 2014 and 2017, respectively, are located in Cleveland, Ohio; and BHSEC Baltimore, which opened in 2015, is located in Baltimore, Maryland. The Bard High School Early Colleges are part of a larger network of early college programs run by Bard College, called the Bard Early Colleges, which also include half-day programs in New Orleans, Louisiana; in partnership with the Harlem Children's Zone in New York City; and in Hudson, New York. Admissions BHSEC has a conventional admissions process; simply apply through NBOE'S School mint and select Bard Highschool Early College (BHSEC). Applicants must maintain a B letter grade of 85 percent or higher in order to be considered. Bard has its own academic standards, and if a student meets them, they will be called to a one-on-one interview. History Founded in 2001 as a partnership of the New York City Department of Education and Bard College and funded in part by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bard High School Early College Manhattan was the first public Bard Early College. However, the early college model and many of the teaching philosophies employed across the Bard Early