Early College High School incoming freshmen candidates must first complete a short standardized application that contains requests for student and parent contact information and demographic data including 8th grade course work. Students and parents are asked to complete short answer questions in order to explain why they want the young person to attend Early College High School. An additional question asks the student to describe a time they had to overcome academic adversity in middle school. Both the parent and student then describe a long-term goal they think will be reached if the child attends and completes the high school program.
A weighted lottery is then applied to the student data gathered from the parent(s), students and school data demographics. The lottery does favor students that are considered ‘At-Risk’ by Federal guidelines. The early mission of all Texas Early College High School programs was to elevate or launch students coded ‘At-Risk’ into the best possible position to acquire a two-year Associates degree and then to gain access to 4-year university programs. Sub-population characteristics are also weighted but not as much as the ‘At-Risk’ category. Listed below are the weighted categories:
- At-Risk identification (by Federal Government standards).
- Economically disadvantaged (Free and Reduced Lunch).
- First generation in the family to go to college.
- Underrepresented minorities in higher education.
- Limited English Proficiency.
The application essays are checked for completion and do not have weighted value.
These weighted categories are then added together to produce an initial acceptance list from the local district middle schools. Out-of-district enrollments do occur. These students are considered with these categories and must also meet all district transfer requirements as described by school board policy.
Wait-listed students are often accepted in the summer in that the initially accepted list of students do not all accept their ECHS enrollment invitation.
Occasionally, mid-year winter enrollments do occur. When they do, students are evaluated under the same criterion as Fall enrollments.