Like the rest of the nation, Ohio struggles to ensure that students graduate from high school, so imagining all students graduating from college can seem like a far-off dream. The statistics below tell the story of a public school system in distress. But Early College tells the story of a school system with hope that offers great possibilities for the future.

• Fewer high school graduates
  Only 7 in 10 of our state's students will graduate from high school.
  
• Fewer college graduates
  Ohio ranks 41st out of 50 in the number of adults with bachelor's degrees. In fact, less than 3 in 10 will complete a bachelor's degree within 10 years.
  
• Inadequate college preparation
  Of those students who do attend college, only a little more than 1 in 3 are actually prepared for the work; the rest will take remedial courses such as "Introduction to College Reading and Writing," usually for at least two semesters before they can enroll in for-credit courses. (As a result, many students drop out in frustration.)
  
• Significant achievement gaps across racial and socioeconomic groups, and urban and non-urban populations
  Often, minority and low-income students don't have the opportunity to take as many college preparatory courses as Caucasians students, and their college graduation rates are much lower. In fact, nearly 2 in 10 African-Americans and 1 in 10 Latinos will complete a four-year degree by age 29. Compare this to over 3 in 10 Caucasians.
  
  Meanwhile, upper-income students are seven times more like than low-income students to earn a bachelor's degree by age 24.
  
• The heavy cost of college
  Ohio ranks 40th in the amount of state support given to students for higher education, earning an "F" for affordability in a recent "state-by-state report card on higher education" by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.

While Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates has said he is "terrified" for our workforce of tomorrow because our youth are simply unprepared, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, KnowledgeWorks Foundation, Jobs for the Future, and the Kellogg Foundation are solving this crisis with the promising Early College initiative. The ultimate goal of Early College is to improve high school graduation rates and prepare students for family-supporting careers with a promising, exciting curriculum that makes education more accessible, affordable, and attractive for disadvantaged students.