The transition from high school to college can be daunting for many students, especially those who come from less-privileged backgrounds. One approach to supporting students through that transition is the introduction of college-level coursework (with credit) while still in high school. The Bard Early Colleges (BEC) are a unique instance of this approach in NYC, going beyond individual college courses to build a network of public high schools in which students complete high school graduation requirements by the end of sophomore year and are considered full-time undergraduate students in their 11th and 12th grades. BEC currently enrolls 1,600 NYC public school students across its four campuses in Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx and Brooklyn. Each is a public schools, governed by an agreement between Bard College and the NY Department of Education. Across the larger BEC network, 77% of high schoolers are students of color and 73% are classified by their districts as low-income; 60% are first-generation college students and, by the end of their time at BEC, roughly 80% of students receive a two-year Bard College Associate in Arts degrees, including 60 transferable Bard College credits. While the Queens and Manhattan campuses are well-established, the BEC Bronx and Brooklyn campuses are in a “startup phase,” with plans to enroll a new class of students each year until they reach full capacity by 2028. Before reaching full enrollment, these campuses rely on philanthropic support to build capacity for new initiatives that prepare students for a fulfilling and supportive college experience. Funds from this grant will  support the buildout of a new science laboratory on the Bronx campus, enabling Bard faculty in the sciences (across biology, physics and chemistry) to design and develop new biotechnology-based elective courses utilizing specialized equipment such as PCR machines, gel electrophoresis apparatus, centrifuges, micropipettes, incubators and spectrophotometers. Approximately half of grant funds will go to laboratory equipment procurement, and the other half dedicated to staffing, the design of new curriculum, and paid student research experiences.