Bard High School Early Colleges are public schools that offer students two years of an accelerated secondary education in the 9th and 10th grades followed by two years of credit bearing college classes in place of the traditional 11th and 12th grades. Students earn both a high school diploma and an Associate in Arts degree. Because BHSEC Baltimore was approved to open and began recruiting rather late in the high school selection process in 2015, the foundation awarded a grant to help with outreach and recruitment efforts last year. BHSEC Baltimore opened in August 2015 in East Baltimore with 119 9th graders and 43 Year 1 (11th grade) students. This grant helped to subsidize operating costs until the school reaches full enrollment in the 2016-2017 school year.