The Legislature finds and declares that early college high schools are innovative partnerships between charter or noncharter public secondary schools and a local community college, the California State University, or the University of California that allow pupils to earn a high school diploma and up to two years of college credit in four years or less. Early college high schools are small, autonomous schools that blend high school and college into a coherent educational program. In early college high schools, pupils begin taking college courses as soon as they demonstrate readiness and the college credit earned may be applied toward completing an associate or bachelor’s degree, transfer to a four-year university, or obtaining a skills
certificate.