The State University of New York officially launched 11 early college high school partnerships across the state on Feb. 22.

The Smart Scholars Early College High Schools (ECHS) initiative programs accelerate high school graduation for students, as well as provide an opportunity for students to earn college credits.

Representatives from SUNY, the governor’s office, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the State Education Department came together for the announcement in Hudson Valley Community College, where partnering colleges and universities joined district and school leaders.

The Gates Foundation has provided a $6 million, four-year grant toward the initiative, which will begin September 2010.

The ECHS will serve approximately 2,570 students through the 11 partnerships statewide, and eight of the 11 participating schools are SUNY partnerships. Districts such as Buffalo City School District, City School District of Albany and Syracuse City School District are participating in these programs.

According to SUNY spokesman David Belsky, all 11 partnerships were awarded through a competitive Request for Proposals (RFP) process. Through this process, the State Education Department sought to identify partnerships based on qualification, such as schools serving students in high need, or very high need schools.

“The partnerships represent some of the areas in the state with populations of students who are traditionally underrepresented in higher education,” Belsky said.

Johanna Duncan-Poitier, the chancellor’s deputy for the Education Pipeline at SUNY, described the anticipated goal of these programs.

“The ECHS partnership will provide an accelerated program of study in which students complete a high school diploma while earning significant college credits,” she said.

The partnerships are designed specifically to increase high school graduation, as well as college completion rates, among disadvantaged students who may not have otherwise had an opportunity to attend college.

SUNY is working closely with partners across SUNY, CUNY and independent schools to ensure that the credits earned are high quality and transferable.

The Smart Scholars ECHS partnerships will ensure that the college courses they are offering are non-remedial and rigorous. In addition, the courses in the partnerships will use the same syllabus, and will be assessed by the same tools, as those used for traditional students enrolled in institutions of higher education.