Haywood Early College High School enrolls students in grades 9 through 13.

Students who complete the full program earn both a high school diploma and a two-year transfer degree.

Haywood Early College opened in the fall of 2006 supported by a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and in collaboration with the North Carolina New Schools Project.

Haywood Early College has achieved considerable academic success.

HEC earned an A rating[2] from the state for the 2013–2014 academic year, SchoolDigger ranked HEC 29th out of 503 North Carolina high schools,[3] and was recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School in 2018.