In New Orleans, summer brings snowball season, but it also may bring the “summer slide,” which is a learning loss in K-12 students of roughly a month of school instruction. Summer learning loss has been shown to disproportionately affect lower-income students who do not have access to as many learning resource opportunities in the summer as their higher-income counterparts. 62.2% of students in Orleans Parish public schools and 71% of students in Louisiana are economically disadvantaged. As an institution well-known for inspiring academic excellence in students with diverse levels of college readiness, Xavier University of Louisiana stands in a unique position to create positive change for underserved K-12 students. 

Thanks to the Gilead Foundation, we can expand access to our pre-college programs and provide even more opportunities for students in the Greater New Orleans area to spend their summers pursuing academic excellence through our summer programs! The Gilead Foundation recognized our efforts to cultivate students at multiple levels into leaders who seek positive change, and Xavier became one of the recipients in the first class of grantees of their Creating Possible Fund. Students who would not otherwise be able to attend due to financial constraints can now participate for free. The Gilead Foundation will sponsor over 350 students each year to attend pre-college programs at Xavier, and with their support, we will exponentially increase our impact and help close the summer learning loss gap. 

Since 1977, XULA Pre-College Programs have empowered students from the Greater New Orleans area and across the country to academically excel in the summer. The six Pre-College Programs we offer form a pipeline for students to participate in academic preparation on our college campus every summer from rising 8th grade to rising 12th grade.  

As a Star Program participant, students spend three weeks in the summer focusing on an introduction to the math or science course they will take in the fall, giving participants an academic advantage over their peers. 88% of Star Programs students from 2020-2022 improved at least 10 percentage points in content knowledge from pre-test to post-test. When students have a chance to truly understand the basics of science or math, they can more easily build upon that foundation and earn an excellent grade in their high school class. High school grade point average can be a critical factor in determining college choice, financial aid, and scholarship opportunities.  

When participants become rising 11th or 12th graders, they can participate in SOAR X (Stress on Analytical Reasoning), an in-residence program on XULA’s campus for four weeks. Students who participate in SOAR X experience a piece of college life as they take multiple college-level enrichment courses, navigate new friendships, and are immersed in XULA’s community and culture. Current Xavier students provide mentorship about college life and facilitate the forging of supportive bonds between SOAR X participants that last long after the program ends.  

One SOAR X participant who shared their thoughts during the end-of-program survey comes to mind, reminding me how the strong bonds we build and the academic foundation we give sets program participants up for success. They wrote, “The best part of 2022 SOAR X was, hands down the relationships we built with each other. While the academic aspect was very enriching, the people I met are going to be what stick with me the most. For many of us, being away from home meant that we had to build the bonds that we built in order to make it through the four weeks. I feel we learned so much from each other, mentors included.”  

It is this early exposure to college life, the connections they make, and the knowledge they gain that inspires students to pursue a college education – in fact, 87% of XULA residential pre-college participants from 2011-2021 enrolled in an institution of higher education after finishing the program. 

I’m grateful that the support the summer programs have received through the Gilead Foundation will allow us to help even more students find their paths forward into higher education and beyond. 

For more information about our 2023 programs, please visit our website at xula.edu/pre-college-programs. We are actively enrolling students in all six programs. For questions, please contact us at summerprograms@xula.edu.