U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced Thursday during a visit in Greensboro that North Carolina New Schools has been awarded a $20 million grant to expand its work with early college strategies in North Carolina as well as several other states.

The grant represents the largest of 26 grants nationally this year under the U.S. Department of Education’s Investing in Innovation (i3) competition, aimed at developing innovative approaches to improve student achievement and replicating effective strategies across the country. Together, the 26 grants for 2014 total $129 million.

The grant to NC New Schools is the only “scale-up” effort to be funded this year, and the first since 2011, based on strong evidence of effectiveness. The grant amount is the maximum awarded under the program.

“North Carolina New Schools’ work captures the spirit of innovation we set out to support when we created the i3 program five years ago,” Duncan said. “The research is clear: New Schools’ early college model boosts graduation rates, which means thousands more students will cross the stage on graduation day, ready for college careers and life. It is a scalable model that can improve the lives of students across the nation.”

Duncan had scheduled his visit Thursday to the University of North Carolina at Greensboro to meet with students from a number of rural high schools across the state participating in the NC New Schools-led Rural Innovative Schools initiative, which applies early college strategies in traditional high schools to raise expectations and college readiness for students. The initiative is funded by a 2011 $15 million Investing in Innovation grant and $1.5 million in funding from private donors.

Duncan surprised educators and students at the event with news of the grant award.

“This is not a gift,” Duncan said. “It’s an investment based on strong evidence of success. You guys are demonstrating the impact you’re having on people’s lives. You’re actually changing outcomes for young people.”

Duncan was introduced by student Eric Trejo, a senior from East Surry High School, who hopes to attend UNC Charlotte to study civil engineering. He said neither of his parents made it past 8th grade and that he will be the first in his family to attend college.

“My father did the best with what he could,” Eric said. “I want to be able to say that I earned everything I have.”

Given dramatic shifts in the economy, Duncan said, going to college has to be the norm in today’s world, not the exception.

“For me, it’s not just about college credit,” he said. “This is about changing lives, and in some cases, saving lives. When we raise expectations and improve opportunities, students always meet us more than halfway.”

Tony Habit, president of NC New Schools, praised the U.S. Department of Education’s commitment to its pursuit of innovation and entrepreneurship.

“We’re so honored by the faith you’ve put in us,” Habit told Duncan. “The U.S. Department of Education provides transformational leadership. It’s remarkable how dedicated they are to this mission to drive change.”

North Carolina New Schools must raise a 5 percent match, or $1 million, from private sources to secure the grant — $500,000 by Dec. 10 and the remaining $500,000 within the first six months of the project.

The grant will fund early college efforts on several fronts, including:

• Expansion of districtwide early-college approaches currently being pursued in the state
• The creation of six new early college high schools as stand-alone schools or the application of early-college strategies within traditional high schools
• The development of seven model schools within North Carolina that can be used as national study schools
• Work with two other states to build capacity to open six early colleges based on the NC New Schools model
• Provide state and regional capacity-building to two additional states to set the foundation for future early college schools

In all, the grant proposal estimates that 13,300 students and more than 850 educators and district leaders will benefit from the funded projects.