attending its two-week Maker’s Mark program last summer. “That’s mind-blowing when you consider I’m dealing with a popula- tion that doesn’t know much about us and we’re sandwiched between all these other bigger public institu- tions,” said Frisenda. Similar to Junior Project and Senior Project, these programs give students a taste of what college life is like while still in high school. They also can help a student decide if an inter- est of theirs can turn into their area of study. But programs like SPECTRA, which is considered to be a summer bridge program, give incoming fresh- men a soft launch into college. “It makes students more comfort- able with being able to hit the ground running when they come in the fall,” said Rochelle Johnson, director of the College of Charleston’s Multicultural Student Programs and Services, which oversees SPECTRA. “It gives them an opportunity to find their village or other incoming students to bond with.” That was the case for Twitty, who is roommates with one of the stu- dents she met through SPECTRA and remains friends with another. “It did a great job of setting me up for the next four years of school and it also allowed me to contribute to my GPA before even starting classes in August,” Twitty said.
Jordan Twitty with Kenyatta Grimmage, an admissions counselor at the College of Charleston who helped advise Twitty throughout her college journey.
GREATER GPAS AND RETENTION — JUST SOME OF THE BENEFITS In the 20 years that Jimmie Foster has worked in college admission and enrollment, he’s seen a trend that students who take summer courses have higher GPAs and are more likely to persist and graduate. This includes pre-college and bridge programs, but also enrolled students who simply want to use summer to be productive in their studies. A big reason why is flexibility. Although summer traditionally is a time for students to focus on things other than their studies, colleges and universities in recent years have grown more flexible in how stu- dents can earn course credit over the summer.
Students can take summer courses during Maymester (the courses span the entire month of May), Summer I, Summer II, or the entire semester. Course credits also can be earned through study abroad programs or virtual courses, too, which were expanded during the pandemic. “As an example, a student could take a Maymester course — let’s say some language credit abroad — then later take a Session II course and ulti- mately collect six to nine credit hours that summer and work toward grad- uating in four years or even sooner,” Foster said. With its diverse offerings, the College of Charleston typically sees about 3,000 students, or 25 percent of the total student body, enroll in at
Today’s student wants to be so much more flexible. It’s natural we see more first- year entering students want to start on their own time or when they’re ready, even if that means starting ahead of the traditional start. Jimmie Foster Vice President of Enrollment Planning College of Charleston
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