Countdown to College Information

Countdown to College (C2C) is a four-year summer academic boot camp designed for graduates of Saint Mary’s middle school partners: Jesuit and Christian Brothers’ schools located in Minneapolis, Chicago, Milwaukee, Racine, Tucson (AZ), and Browning, (MT). These schools serve low income, high-potential Latino, Native American, and African-American students. C2C is unique in providing, without cost, four summers of college prep classes, supervised study sessions, sports, recreation, and field trips. In addition to the study halls, there are nightly discussions, academic competitions and celebrations of learning successes. One of the most distinctive aspects of the program is that it includes teachers from the students’ middle and high schools. They co-teach alongside Saint Mary’s instructors, helping the university instructors work effectively with an increasingly diverse population of college students. In turn, the home school teachers gain understanding of how to set their students up for success in college. Participants who successfully complete the four-year program — which includes academic and behavioral expectations and support during the academic year in their home high school — are eligible for first-line consideration for the FGI Scholars program.