The Office of Community Engagement@Wayne at Wayne State University is hosting its annual College JumpStart program. The program, which is free for all participating students, begins on July 26, 2015, and is designed to expose underrepresented students to higher education and career paths. Through the weeklong program, over 60, 8th through 9th grade students from the Metro Detroit area live as college students on the campus of Wayne State University. 

"Students will get a real college experience and hopefully begin to see themselves as future college students," said Monita Mungo, program manager at Community Engagement@Wayne and creator of College JumpStart. "In addition to exposing them to life on a college campus, we want to show students the link between majors and their professional careers and what they need to do now so they can get into college."

During the week, students will get the chance to act as defendants, plaintiffs, prosecutors, judges and jurors, in a mock trial and learn Marketing 101 from Nicole Lewis, Vice President of Global Marketing at Kelly Services .  

Students will experience the excitement of college life, taking college courses with staff and faculty, such as Sociology, and enjoy a memorable, life-changing summer. Students will learn new study skills, be given information on preparation for the S.A.T. exam, and perform a community service activity, all while spending the week in one of Wayne State's residence halls. 

"We hope the experience we provide these young students will help them see the tremendous possibilities that exist when they attend a university like Wayne State," said Jerry Herron, dean of the Irvin D. Reid Honors College. "We're looking forward to having these students on campus as our guests."

College JumpStart runs July 26-August 1, 2015, at Wayne State University. To donate and learn more about future College JumpStart programs, please contact Monita Mungo at communityengagement@wayne.edu or 313-577-8912.

Wayne State University is a premier urban research institution offering more than 380 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to nearly 28,000 students.