What is an Early College? An Early College is a high school where students take their required high school classes (which are taught at the honors level) and where they take up to 2 years worth of college classes, all in a small classroom setting in collaboration with local community colleges and universities. This allows high school students to gain up to 2 years of college credit for free! Students must apply and be accepted to an Early College. There are 6 Early Colleges in Wake County and each Early College has a different theme. Early Colleges focus on recruiting first-generation college students (students whose parents have not attended college), and about half of their students are first-generation college students. Students who would be a good fit for an Early College are students who are self-motivated, self-disciplined, hard-working, committed to attending school, and who demonstrate the maturity to engage in college-level content and on-the-job learning experiences (such as job shadowing and internships). Students do not need to be straight-A students to apply, but must show the motivation to work hard and be open to learning.