Urban College Acceleration Network

In May 2022, the Center of Excellence in Leadership of Learning (CELL) launched an initiative to help urban high schools implement the Early College High School model. This new program addressed a pressing question often heard in Indiana’s metropolitan schools: “With so many competing priorities and limited resources, can we really make improving college access a top focus?”

The answer to this question and the initiative’s name were one and the same—UCAN. 

The Urban College Acceleration Network (UCAN) leveraged a $4.1 million investment in ESSER funds across 2.5 years from the Indiana Department of Education. Its mission was to help schools from Indiana’s largest cities establish postsecondary and career pathways resulting in thousands of students earning college credit and credentials while in high school. 

While UCAN concluded in November 2024, its impact continues as urban Early College graduates—many of whom are first-generation, minority, and socioeconomically disadvantaged —get a head start on college and a more prosperous life.

The Challenge

UCAN’s launch confronted significant obstacles facing Indiana’s urban districts. The realities of complex school structures, staff turnover, and generations of families with only a high school education challenged schools motivated to improve postsecondary attainment. UCAN addressed these issues head-on and began dismantling the hurdles preventing more urban school districts from embracing Early College. 

Systemic Barriers to Early College Implementation

The complexity of large urban districts, often characterized by dispersed campuses and siloed departments, made achieving the cohesion necessary for program implementation more difficult compared to suburban and rural schools. Additionally, urban districts frequently contend with competing demands and limited resources, making implementing a new model like Early College both difficult and daunting. Leadership turnover can compound these challenges and disrupt the multi-year effort required to implement Early College effectively. 

Other barriers included the perception that students and families in urban areas lacked an interest in pursuing college-level coursework. Just 53% of Hoosiers between the ages of 25 and 64 hold a college degree or credential, ranking Indiana 39th in the nation. That means many families lack a family member who has gone to college, resulting in limited support or the awareness to prioritize higher education. These families also often lack the financial resources to pay for children to pursue a college degree.

A Lack of Network Support

Data showed that Indiana schools often did not pursue the Early College model without additional support, like that provided by CELL. While CELL successfully addressed this reality with smaller rural districts through its Rural Early College Network (RECN), no equivalent initiative for urban schools existed. Recognizing this gap, Flora Jones, director of student pathways at the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE), advocated for a program tailored to the unique challenges of urban districts. Drawing on her experience helping launch one of Indiana’s first Early Colleges, Jones understood the resources and strategies large urban campuses needed. With her sponsorship and IDOE’s ESSER grant support, CELL launched UCAN to provide Early College funding, training, and assistance to 12 urban high schools across Indiana.

The Solution

To address these challenges, UCAN tailored lessons learned from RECN to support urban schools with Early College implementation. The network centered on mentorship, structured programming, capacity building, and funding to accelerate Early College adoption. The ultimate goal: every student, regardless of their school’s location, has equal access to a postsecondary degree and pathways to a meaningful career. 

Mentor-Partner Collaboration

UCAN used “quads,” a mentor-mentee relationship for Early College support. CELL recruited four urban endorsed Early College programs—Ben Davis University High School, Hobart High School, Muncie Central High School, and Penn High School—to serve as Mentor schools. Each worked with three of the 12 Partner schools pursuing Early College in their region. The groupings allowed more experienced schools to provide guidance, share best practices, and foster collaboration. The quads created a supportive environment where schools could work together to overcome implementation issues.

Schools accepted to UCAN as Partner schools included: 

• Anderson Community Schools – Madison County
  • Anderson High School
• Concord Community Schools – Elkhart County
  • Concord High School 
• Gary Community School Corporation – Lake County
  • West Side Leadership Academy 
• Goshen Community Schools – Elkhart County
  • Goshen High School
• Herron Classical Schools – Marion County
  • Herron High School
  • Herron-Riverside High School
• Indianapolis Public Schools – Marion County
  • Arsenal Tech High School 
  • Crispus Attucks High School 
• Irvington Community Schools – Marion County
  • Irvington Preparatory Academy 
• School City of Hammond – Lake County
  • Hammond Central High School 
  • Morton High School 
• Vigo County School Corporation – Vigo County
  • Terre Haute North Vigo High School 
  • Terre Haute South Vigo High School 

Structured Activities

UCAN’s success was rooted in a thoughtfully designed program structure that ensured consistent engagement and support. Schools participated in activities every quarter, alternating between bi-annual network meetings and quad meetings. Network events brought all schools together for professional development, IDOE updates, and collaborative problem-solving. Smaller quad meetings provided focused opportunities to address specific challenges. Partner schools also visited established Early College programs in North Carolina and Texas, gaining practical insights by experiencing the model in action. Annual retreats offered workshops on the Early College core principles and celebrations of key milestones to sustain momentum. 

Financial Support

UCAN provided Partner schools with critical financial resources targeting three key implementation areas: 

• Teacher credentialing to expand dual credit access
• Staff professional development
• Early College expenses including transportation, college visits, textbook fees, instructional materials, and supplies to foster a college-going culture 

UCAN’s leadership emphasized investing in sustainable strategies over short-term fixes, steering schools away from expenditures like additional staff or major construction. By distributing more than $3 million across the network, UCAN ensured schools had additional financial resources to establish and maintain high-quality Early College programs. 

Building Capacity and Sustainability

UCAN equipped counselors, teachers, and administrators with the skills needed to support the Early College model. Expert-led lunch-and-learn sessions provided counselors with strategies to overcome access barriers and create effective college pathways. CELL staff conducted site visits to Partner schools, offering personalized guidance on Early College implementation and alignment with the model’s core principles. These efforts laid the groundwork for long-term sustainability, ensuring schools could maintain and grow their programs beyond UCAN’s funding period. 

The Results

UCAN exemplifies the proverb “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” The initiative delivered impressive results, highlighting its effectiveness in accelerating Early College implementation, reshaping school culture, and promoting accountability. Through the power of collaboration and by providing targeted support, UCAN helped schools achieve measurable milestones that set the stage for long-term success. 

Accelerated Implementation and Endorsement

• Two Partner schools—West Side Leadership Academy and Concord High School—achieved Early College endorsement during the 2023-24 school year. Endorsement reflects high fidelity to the model’s eight core principles and reflects the quality, stability, and integrity of the Early College program. 
• Two additional schools are on track for endorsement during the 2024-25 school year. The remaining eight districts are on pace to achieve endorsement the following year. 
• UCAN schools reduced the average time to endorsement, with many completing the process quicker than the standard four-year timeframe, a testament to the network’s services and quad mentoring approach. Nearly every school expressed that without UCAN they would not have pursued Early College or implementation would have been at a much slower pace. UCAN’s accelerated approach left little opportunity for Early College to fail or get deprioritized within districts.
• Partner schools completed self-assessments of their Early College core principle implementation at the beginning of UCAN in Fall 2022 and again in Spring 2024. The average score improved by more than 76%, showing the enhanced quality of the Early College programs by the time UCAN concluded. 
• By the end of 2024, more than 3,000 students from the 12 partner schools benefited from the Early College program. With full participation in the next two years, the model will impact more than 6,000 students.

Transforming School Culture

• Partner school principals detailed the transformational change Early College has made in the culture of their schools, the aspirations of students, and the attitudes of families. 
• Administrators and teachers experiencing the transformation are sharing their positive experiences with non-UCAN schools in their areas. The testimonials are generating interest in Early College from other urban districts across Indiana. 

The Network Effect

• UCAN quad meetings provided a collaborative space where teachers, school counselors, and administrators could openly address Early College challenges and develop solutions. These strong inter-school relationships fostered accountability and elevated expectations, fostering collective buy-in and shared progress.
• UCAN’s October 2024 Showcase, a concluding event for the initiative, highlighted the significant progress made by Partner schools, with each presenting best practices aligned with the model’s core principles. Schools transitioned from learners to leaders, exemplifying commitment to the model and inspiring others with their accomplishments. 
• Participants emphasized the value of role-alike networks within the UCAN framework. This targeted, role-specific support strengthened the collective impact of UCAN.

Early College Sustainability

• The initiative’s strategic allocation of funds focused on long-term investments to ensure Early College sustainability in each participating district. Even after UCAN’s financial support ended, all 12 Partner schools reaffirmed their commitment to maintaining and advancing the program. 
• Relationships forged through UCAN have created a lasting support network, with administrators and teachers continuing to collaborate and share resources within their quads and among other UCAN schools.
• CELL’s broader Early College High School initiative, which supports more than 60 schools statewide, is implementing lessons learned from UCAN, including exploring geographically based mini networks to offer additional support and information sharing between Early College programs. 

UCAN proves that with targeted support, strategic funding, and collaborative mentorship, schools can break down barriers to college access, paving the way for generations of students in urban schools to achieve their potential. By accelerating Early College adoption, the initiative provided schools with new opportunities to offer college credits and prepare students for postsecondary success. UCAN’s legacy extends beyond Indiana, offering a replicable model for other states and organizations seeking to expand access to higher education for underserved populations. 

As educators nationwide explore ways to improve equity and college readiness, UCAN serves as both a blueprint and an inspiration. Initiatives like UCAN—both a name and an affirmation—show that schools can provide every student with the opportunity to succeed in high school, college, and their career.