Harlan Kirgan
Six of the 64 high school students enrolled in the LSUE Academy were introduced at the St. Landry Parish School Board meeting Thursday.
LSUE Chancellor Kimberly Russell explained that the LSUE Academy is about six weeks old and has 22 students from St. Landry Parish public schools.
The enrollment is open to St. Landry, Acadia and Evangeline parish students, she said.
“Basically, it provides a collegiate setting for students to receive academic programs that are college level,” she said.
The LSUE Academy is open to juniors and seniors and has four associate degree options in pre-professional and health sciences, Russell said.
The students have access to support services such as tutoring, individualized testing and advising.
The program is an outgrowth of the Early College Initiative Institute founded by the Bill and Melinda Gate Foundation in 2002, she said.
There are about 280 early college program in the U.S. supported by the Foundation, she said.
They students in the programs typically outperform their peers, she said.
— 93 percent graduate from high school compared to the national average of 75 percent. In Louisiana, 77 percent of high school students graduate.
— 94 percent earn free or low-cost college credit while in high school.
— More than half earn an associate’s degree or other post-secondary credential.
— 76 percent enroll in college compared to the national average of 62 percent. In Louisiana, 65 percent of high school graduates enroll in college.
“What we are hoping to do is have students really get a jump start on their higher education,” Russell said. “The can complete one year or two years with us. Some, in fact, will complete an associate degree when they graduate from high school.”
The program can cut the cost of an LSU education in half, she said.
Also in play for the LSUE Academy is students can qualify for Pell Grants, which is unique in the state.
Fifty-three percent of the LSUE Academy students have qualified for Pell Grants, she said.
The Pell funding is to be available for three years, she said.
There were 176 applications for the Academy from which 124 students were accepted and 64 enrolled, she said.
Sondra Cormier, Academy director, said professors at LSUE tell her some of the best students in their classes are from the Academy.
Dr. John Hamlin, head of the math and science department at LSUE, said, “We are extremely happy to have your students on campus. They are extremely well prepared. They are also the most eager students.”
Hamlin said the credit hours earned at LSUE transfer to other colleges and universities.
Brett Sonnier, a Eunice High School junior enrolled in the Academy, said he taking history, English and biology courses
“I love it. It is a great program,” he said.
“They are very different from classes at high school,” he said.
“It is mostly up to the students to teach themselves and I like that,” he said.
For more information about the LSUE Academy, see:
— lsue.edu/academy/index.php.
— Call Sondra Cormier, director, at 337-457-6130; or email academy@lsue.edu.