Facilitating College Readiness through Campus Life Experiences

Abstract

In a program called “College Immersion,” middle grades students spend up to one week on a local college campus, attending specially designed college classes and experiencing collegiate activities. This research study reports on findings related to two different college-middle school partnerships involved in a College Immersion program. Literature on college and career readiness suggests that the middle school years are critical for future academic success, especially for the kinds of vulnerable populations that are involved in this study. Taking middle grades students to college offers them authentic experiences that facilitate college readiness. After participation in a College Immersion program, students in both college-middle school partnerships demonstrated aspects of college readiness as outlined by Conley (2007). Following a weeklong experience of immersion in college life, students imagined a future that included post-secondary possibilities, developed college knowledge, and cultivated deeply positive feelings about college.