Every summer, the University of Delaware opens its doors to a different kind of student: Dozens of area high school students use the university as their home base as part of the nationally recognized Upward Bound program. For five weeks, students from high schools all over New Castle County gather to take courses, stay in dorms and discover new potential career paths as part of the program. 

This initiative was designed to bridge the gap between high school and college, offering a rare glimpse into the world of higher education and preparing students for the complexities of life beyond their school years.

Rising freshmen all the way to rising seniors get help from education mentors and visit colleges to figure out exactly what they may want to do after high school, all while giving them the discipline to do well in their classes. 

This year, over 60 students were on UD’s campus for the program. Naomi Mitchell is a 13-year-old rising freshman at MOT Charter School who is in her first year of Upward Bound, on the advice of her older sister, who is also an alum of the program. 

She said the career choices she learned about through the program, as well as the classes she’s been taking, made her realize that she’d like to go into marketing and real estate post high school. 

For the five weeks of the program, students take courses on UD’s campus including math, science, English and Spanish. The older students also have access to courses on college success and college application prep. In weeks four and five, they also stay inside the dorms at UD to get a better feel for what life is like in college. 

Nafatari Manigault, the academic coordinator for the program, is a graduate of the program herself. She said that she has had students who started the program thinking they wouldn’t attend college but then changed their minds due to the courses and the life skills they got by staying on top of their schoolwork during the summer. 

Courses are taught by college professors, high school instructors and RAs. 

Although based at UD, students also get a chance to visit other colleges in surrounding states. This is especially important to seniors, Manigault said, because it gives them perspective on what environment could be most beneficial for them after high school. 

Shannon Cowan, a 17-year-old rising senior at Delaware Military Academy is in his fourth year of the program. He said that because of the program, he knows what he wants to pursue and plans on applying to UD. 

“Coming out of eighth grade, I wanted to make sure that I was on the right path and the right track in high school,” he said. “I wanted to make sure I stayed focused all through my four years of high school.”

His plan is to go into finance and accounting once he enters college.