More than 180 students from 15 Denver-area high schools will participate in the Pre-Collegiate Development Summer Residential Program at the University of Colorado at Boulder, the largest class in the program's history.
According to Director Johanna Maes, 85 juniors and 101 sophomores are enrolled in programs that include a variety of academic courses, study skills instruction, and workshops on preparing for college entrance exams and the application process.
The two-week program for sophomores will be held June 15 to June 28 and the five-week program for juniors will be held June 15 to July 19.
Maes cites parent involvement as the primary reason for the growing number of students interested in the program.
"We provide parents with tools to help their students navigate through the middle and high school years and they are recognizing the benefits of our program -- academic preparation, long-term individual support and scholarships," Maes said.
"Attendance of students and parents at our monthly Saturday Academy has grown to almost 95 percent. Parents are taking an active role in helping their students meet timelines for coursework as well as admissions and financial aid processes. Moms and dads are also talking with parents of current students who realize how important the Pre-Collegiate Development Program is in helping their children to continually work toward a college education."
The Pre-Collegiate Development Program was established to help meet the educational development needs of high school students and was later expanded to include middle school students. Its mission is to ensure that more educationally and economically disadvantaged students enroll and become successful at CU or at another postsecondary institution.
The incoming freshman class of Pre-Collegiate students features three students who were valedictorians at their respective high schools and one student who was a salutatorian.
Classroom instruction will feature an award-winning teacher from the Cherry Creek School District, staff from the CU-Boulder Student Academic Services Center and faculty from the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Engineering and Applied Science, the Leeds School of Business and the School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Students will be involved in hands-on, project-based learning. New courses include an art class for sophomores taught by a Denver muralist in partnership with astrophysics and physics instructors, and an environmental science class for juniors.
A selection of scholarships is available to motivated students. The CU Parents Association provides a $10,000 scholarship distributed over five years and Wells Fargo Bank offers an $8,000 scholarship over four years. The CU-Boulder Leadership, Excellence, Achievement and Diversity Alliance and the Pre-Collegiate program offer a joint $1,000 renewable scholarship. The engineering and journalism schools offer one-year, $500 to $1,000 scholarships to outstanding students in those fields. The Pre-Collegiate program offers an additional $1,000 scholarship, and $500 scholarships to students who perform well in each of the 13 courses offered.
Another goal of the program is to provide students with opportunities to become familiar with a university setting. Maes said national research on summer programs has shown that students are more successful and have a higher retention rate if they are introduced to college campuses prior to the start of their freshman year.
Students will live in residence halls Monday through Friday. Current Pre-Collegiate undergraduate students will live and work with the students as peer counselors and teaching assistants.
Funding for the program is provided by the Boulder campus and the CU President's Office and is administered through the Student Academic Services center.
For more information on the summer program contact Maes at (303) 492-8243 or johanna.maes@colorado.edu.