MEDIA, Pa. — For many newly minted college students, the first few weeks on campus can be daunting. That’s why several Penn State campuses, including Brandywine, launched the Pathway to Success: Summer Start (PaSSS) program in 2015.
PaSSS, an effort to promote an affordable and accessible Penn State education, allows incoming freshmen to take six credits during their first summer at Penn State and 12 credits during their second summer — providing them with scholarships to offset the cost of attendance. They also receive a stipend for books and fees, and the opportunity to receive work-study positions on campus.
But not all of the program benefits are material. PaSSS students also have a chance to navigate campus, make friends and adjust to college standards.
“When the fall semester starts and all the starry-eyed freshmen anxiously wonder about everything from ‘How do I register an iClicker?’ to ‘Will the professor be nice?’ to ‘What is a college exam like?’, the PaSSS participants will be past all that,” said Mark Boudreau, instructor in biology at Penn State Brandywine.