After its first year in existence, Isaac Bear Early College (IBEC) High School ranked 5^th among all public high schools in the state of North Carolina, with an overall proficiency rate of 91.5% on End-of-Course (EOC) tests in English I, Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, and Biology. Of the top 5 schools, IBEC had the highest percentage of tests taken by students in minority groups underrepresented on college campuses - African American, Hispanic, and Multi-Racial - at 31.4%. Tests taken by African American students at IBEC made up 25.7% of the total. Of the four schools that topped IBEC in EOC proficiency rate, three are early colleges:

· One is a charter school.

· The total percentage of tests taken by African American, Hispanic and Multi-Racial students at these four schools was 22.7%, 15.4%, 11.1%, and 8.1% (compared to 31.4% at Isaac Bear).

· Not one of the four had more than 8.4% of its tests taken by African American students (compared to 25.7% at Isaac Bear).

This information was taken from the NC School Report Cards Web site -www.ncreportcards.org/src/

One of the fundamental goals of early colleges in North Carolina is to make college more accessible to students from populations traditionally underrepresented on college campuses, and to prepare these students to be successful in college.

"The early success of Isaac Bear Early College High School with students from a wide range of backgrounds and academic ability is in no small part due to the outstanding faculty and staff at the school and the collaborative support of UNCW," says Deron M. Fort, UNCW early college liaison and academic advisor.