Students walk to class during summer session.
OXFORD, Miss. – In an effort to address the challenges of poverty and educational inequity plaguing some Mississippi schools, the University of Mississippi’s Division of Outreach and Continuing Education will provide financial support for academically qualified first-generation students from the Delta by providing high school students opportunities to earn college credit.
For the next 10 years, select students from the Mississippi Delta will have an opportunity to participate in the UM Summer College for High School Students program on a scholarship through a grant from the Robert M. Hearin Support Foundation.
SCHS is a four-week residential program that offers academically gifted, rising juniors and seniors an opportunity to study in specialized programs, take top-notch academic courses for college credit and get a real glimpse of life on a college campus. The program offers two sessions each summer and accepts 400 students a year.
The scholarship will cover the cost of tuition, board and books for one session of Summer College.
To be selected for this scholarship, students must meet SCHS admissions criteria, have a financial need, be a first-generation college student and complete a writing sample.
“Students leave with a college transcript and a better understanding of the demands of college,” said Cass Dodgen, SCHS director. Dodgen noted that students who are undecided on a major of study are able to enroll in introductory-level general education courses.
“What separates our program from other similar programs around the country is the same thing that separates Ole Miss from other universities: the safety and beauty of the campus combined with quality of our faculty,” Dodgen said.
The 10-year span of this program will allow for these students to be tracked as they complete high school, attend college and enter the workforce.
“Our hope is to establish completing college as a goal for these students, which will have a long-term impact on the next generations,” said Ellen Shelton, UM director of pre-college programs, “We are excited to be able to offer such an opportunity to 10 students a year for the next 10 years.”