As accredited campuses of Bard College, Bard Early College sites model their academic programs on Bard College’s academic program for freshmen and sophomores. The BEC program of study is overseen by the Dean of the Early Colleges and a committee of Academic Program Chairs who ensure consistent academic rigor and integrity across the network.

Our students gain:

• An understanding of the scientific method – its approaches to inquiry, its strengths and limitations as a mode of analysis, and a basic comprehension of the fundamental laws governing both physical phenomena and human behavior;
• An appreciation of several forms of artistic and literary expression, the creative process, and the disciplined use of imagination, formal structure, and aesthetic values;
• A flexibility of thought that allows for creative problem solving through an integration of quantitative and qualitative techniques;
• Knowledge of some of the most influential works of Western culture and critical understanding of the values, assumptions, ideologies that they express;
• Knowledge and appreciation of modes of thought of other cultures – including non-Western cultures, and groups or societies that exist as distinct subcultures within Western culture; 
• A sense of history – ideas, movements, peoples, and events of the past – and an understanding of how our view of the past is shaped, and shapes our understanding of the present and future; and
• Sensitivity to the moral and ethical dimensions of thought and action, and developing the ability to make informed moral and ethical decisions.