WILMINGTON — Wilmington Early College High School that lets students get college credit and a high school diploma at the same time has graduated its first class.

The StarNews of Wilmington reported that four of the six members of the school’s Class of 2011 who graduated Saturday are the first in their family to attend college. Principal Ivy Marrain says more than half of her school’s 182 students are first-generation college students.

The state introduced the schools in 2004 as an experiment to help lower income students. The schools are at community colleges or universities and students can get an associate’s degree or two years of credit toward a bachelor’s degree at the same time they complete work for their high school diplomas.