Each student at Chandler Early College is assigned to a stage and will progress through the stages as they earn credits. CEC is not an accelerated program, but rather a program designed to help students make the most of the opportunities of both high school and college. The stages are as follows:

Entrance: Students with fewer than 6 high school credits must complete six high school classes in order to be considered for enrollment in college.

Early College I: In this stage the students will begin with one or two college classes and will take the ASSET test for college placement.

Early College II: While still completing high school requirements, students will expand their college classes to include the areas of Humanities, Fine Art, or Literacy as electives.

Early College III: This is the stage in which students will create a program of study while continuing both high school and college courses.

Early College IV: During this final stage students will be finishing their high school requirements while working on their college program of study.