The Impact of Early College High Schools on Participation in Extracurricular Activities

Early colleges combine high school and college, providing students with significant opportunities for academic acceleration. We examine whether the stand-alone early college model—with its academic emphasis, its small size and its location on a college campus—results in students being more or less likely to participate in extracurricular activities. Our study uses a randomized controlled trial in which eligible applicants were randomly assigned to attend the early college (treatment) or attend the business-as-usual condition (control). Our analyses found that treatment students were less likely to participate in extracurriculars in school than control students. This difference was primarily driven by lower participation by early college students in sports, arts, and vocational extracurriculars. These findings suggest that early college high schools—or other academically focused programs—may want to consider expanding access to extracurricular activities to give students the sense of socialization and leadership that they get from these experiences.