♪♪♪ Narr: Kern County in the southern San Joaquin Valley is one of many economically challenged regions around the Golden State.

Students here often face steep barriers to earning college degrees.

Educators are trying to break down those barriers by offering students like Daisy and Sarah the chance to take college classes.

Sarah: When I first heard about the program, I initially thought scary and exciting because a freshman in high school doing college courses, that's like taking a really big step.

Daisy: I told my parents about it because I thought it was like, such a great idea that I could already start with my college career at the same time with like, doing high school.

Kylie: In our rural areas of Kern County degree attainment for adults under the age of 25 is as low as 2%.

We knew that that was a metric that we need to move the dial on and Early College is doing just that.

Narr: The goal of Early College, also called dual enrollment, is to save students time and money towards earning a college degree.

Romeo: Some of the issues that folks encounter as they're pursuing their higher ed, you have issues with access, you have issues with the economics, the financing of an education.

What better way to knock out two years of college credit with no cost while you're in high school?

Narr: McFarland High School Early College, works with the Kern Community College District to place all incoming ninth grade students on pathways to earn between 12 to 60 college units at Bakersfield College.

Those units will count towards Career and Technical Education certificates, General Education certificates, and associate degrees by the time they graduate from high school.

Aaron: For a lot of the students that we serve here and their families who are involved in agriculture, uh, the 28 miles between McFarland High School and Bakersfield College might as well be 100 miles.

Romeo: Hence comes early college, where we create a ha-hard rail system where students entering high school are going to go not just to high school, but they're also college students.

David: So, what you guys were required to do was create a 16-slide presentation, choosing an entrepreneur of your choice.

David: I'm a Business Pathway Dual Enrollment instructor for McFarland High School.

I am also a Bakersfield College adjunct professor.

My job here is to make sure that the students are getting the same rigor, the same learning outcomes, the same standards that are in line with Bakersfield College.

Narr: Dual enrollment instructors like Cisneros provide rigorous, fully aligned and identical college courses like this one, to their high school students, many of whom are children of farmworkers and first-generation college students.

George: The entrepreneur I chose is Virgil Abloh, and that's his photo right there on the slide.

He started “Off-White ” in Milan, Italy, in 2012.

He built a fashion brand so he can express his creativity and it did well.

David: I keep it all the same, the same standards, the same learning outcomes for my Bakersfield College students.

I apply it on my students here at McFarland High School to make sure that they're both getting the same quality of work.

Romeo: Introducing these students to the college going culture, bringing Bakersfield College essentially to them, they're now starting to have conversations about careers.

Sarah: This year I will graduate with a high school diploma as well as an Associate of Art with Bakersfield College.

I plan to attend CSUB, uh, California State University of Bakersfield, and major in Nursing.

I feel very prepared for what's to come, especially in my future plans.

Annika: After hearing only positive things and really amazing things about the program, I... saw no other choice but to, you know, go through with it.

I'm hoping to take all of the experience and the credits and the associate degree with me to a four year college, hopefully to pursue a degree in business analytics where I hope to later become an entrepreneur and hopefully start my own company.

Kylie: With McFarland High School as the example well graduate up to 70 students this coming May with an associate degree.

And as we continue to scale up, as we double these numbers of graduates every year and bring this opportunity to every single high school, not just McFarland, we will see graduates across the county going off to four year universities.

Narr: There are 60 high school partnerships throughout the Kern Community College District participating in the program with an almost 90% course success rate.

Romeo: Adopting an early college program and incorporating it into a high school is not an easy task.

But, you know, really there are no problems, just only solutions.

The only thing that you're really required to be is bold, innovative, intentional.

Aaron: What it takes is takes courage.

It takes good partnerships, and it takes the willingness to be able to, to roll up your sleeves and get the work done.

-Good job, George.

[clapping] Narr: There are several kinds of early college programs across California.

Some called middle college high schools are located right on college campuses.

There are at least two dozen others where college instructors teach right on high school campuses.

In many cases, students can earn both high school and community college credit for the same class.

And a few graduate from high school with a full associate's degree, allowing them to go straight to a four year college as a junior.