Earlham College to offer weeklong pre-college experience for high school students in 2023

Earlham College has been awarded a nearly $1 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. through its Indiana Youth Programs on Campus initiative to launch a summer immersion experience for high school students. The grant is part of a statewide investment of more than $29 million to help young people in Indiana experience higher education programs that help them explore their interests, learn new skills and envision a future for themselves in college.

Earlham Summer: A Pre-College Program for High School Students will serve up to 120 high school sophomores, juniors and seniors during two weeklong immersive experiences on campus, beginning June 2023.

Participants will take classes led by Earlham faculty, learn about the admissions process, and stay overnight in campus residence halls. Students will also learn about new scholarship opportunities that are available to Indiana students, including INspire Earlham, a free tuition program for students from low- and moderate-income backgrounds. Transferrable college credits will be awarded to students who complete the program.

“This program is intentionally designed to help the next generation of students envision how a college education can enrich their lives and support their future pursuits,” said Jill Nelson, associate director of summer programs. “With our national reputation for outstanding classroom teaching and value, we’re ideally positioned to provide access to a rewarding college education for students from all backgrounds and interests.”

Two separate weeklong sessions will be available from June 18-23 and 25-30. Lilly Endowment funding will make this opportunity available to Indiana families at little to no cost. Registration will be available later this year.

A major gift from Earlham alumni Tom ’57 and Nancy Newlin ’56 will expand the program to a national audience by summer 2024 and support the long-term success of the program.

“Indiana’s college-going rate has fallen behind the national average,” said Gariot Louima, Earlham’s senior associate vice president of strategic and diversity initiatives. “The gap is even wider for students of color.

“Earlham’s pre-college experience was designed to broaden students’ perceptions of their own readiness for college,” he said. “This program aligns with our institutional priority of widening the path to an Earlham education.” 

Coursework for the program is being offered by Earlham faculty and student-teachers enrolled in Earlham’s Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.) program. Morning coursework will be based on students’ academic interests and afternoon sessions will offer literacy-based skills that are needed to be successful in college. Social activities will be planned in the evenings.

“We already have a really strong partnership with our local schools and many Indiana students are already learning from Earlham alumni in their classrooms,” said Cammi Fulvi, director of the Graduate Programs in Education. “We want to build upon that partnership and bring even more students to our campus. I’m also really excited about the opportunity for our M.A.T. students to begin their journey as teachers through this program.”

Lilly Endowment launched this initiative, in part, to respond to the significant decrease in the number of Hoosiers pursuing higher education degrees. In 2015, 65 percent of Indiana high school graduates were going straight to college. The college going rate has dropped steadily since. In 2020, only 53 percent of Hoosiers were attending college the year after high school.

“By supporting these efforts, we hope that more young people in Indiana will experience what it’s like to be on a college campus and take part in meaningful programs that can help prepare them for success in college,” said Ted Maple, the Endowment’s vice president for education. “It is our belief that these programs will not only add to the academic enrichment of young people but also inspire them to see higher education institutions in Indiana as part of their plans for life after high school.”