Baltimore City College, colloquially referred to as "City College", "City", "The Castle on the Hill", and "B.C.C." is a public college-preparatory magnet school that offers the International Baccalaureate Programme and Advanced Placement courses. Admission to the school is competitive and 99% of graduates attend college, including the more than 90% who attend four-year universities. Located in northeast Baltimore, Maryland, USA, the school's curriculum features the "IB Middle Years Programme" and the "IB Diploma Programme," making Baltimore City College one of just six secondary schools in Maryland—public or private—to offer a four-year International Baccalureate curriculum. Upon successful completion of the school's academic program, students are awarded the Baltimore City College Certificate in addition to the diploma conferred by the Maryland State Department of Education. Authorized by the Baltimore City Council in March 1839 as the flagship school of the then-decade-old Baltimore City Public Schools system and as the first high school in the state of Maryland, Baltimore City College is the third oldest continuously public high school in the United States.