Syracuse University’s Pre-College Program Announces 50% Discount for Native American, Indigenous and Military Dependent High School Students

Syracuse University continues its commitment to welcoming and celebrating a diverse student body by providing financial incentives to students from a variety of communities who attend Summer College, the university’s nationally recognized pre-college program for high school students.

“Educational opportunities such as Syracuse University’s Summer College are essential and necessary for young people to realize their inherent potential as individuals and as citizens,” says College of Professional Studies dean, Michael Frasciello. “Summer College introduces them to the transformational power of a college education.”

Syracuse University, whose campus resides on the ancestral lands of the Onondaga Nation, firekeepers of the Haudenosaunee, is committed to empowering and supporting Native American and Indigenous students. As part of this extensive commitment, the College of Professional Studies has created a 50% tuition discount on Summer College for students from any indigenous tribe or nation. The Indigenous Student discount will help establish Summer College as a viable pre-college pathway to high school students who later access the university’s Haudenosaunee Promise Scholarship, Honor Scholarship and Indigenous Pathways Grant – all developed to help make a Syracuse education affordable for Indigenous students.

Continuing Syracuse University’s distinguished legacy of leadership in addressing the needs of our nation’s veterans and military-connected communities, Summer College will now offer military-connected high school students an increased tuition discount of 50%, up from 20%.

“Extending financial support to pre-college age children of veterans, active military, guard and reserve members is another example of our institutional commitment to those who serve and have served,” Frasciello says.

After celebrating 60 years of Summer College in 2020, the program has evolved in numerous ways. In 2020 and 2021, Summer College offered its entire portfolio of summer courses online due to Covid-19 restrictions. Moving ahead, Summer College will offer on-campus, online and hybrid experiences for students, as well as on-location programs for commuter students in NYC and Los Angeles.

From July through August 2022, high school sophomores, juniors and seniors can experience college life on campus, online or in a hybrid format during 6-week, 3-week, or 2-week sessions. 

High school students from more than 50 countries and 45 states have enrolled in a Syracuse University pre-college program, and 98% report that their experience prepared them for academic life and beyond.

“Students not only learn about what it’s like to be a college student, they leave the program with more confidence, enthusiasm and a sense of being ready for college,” says Christopher Cofer, executive director of the Office of Pre-College Programs. “This year, students can choose from over 100 courses in one of our pre-college programs.”

Many students complete their Summer College courses with a new sense of themselves and a new perspective of the world. Upon completion of Summer College, students often tell us they had no idea how much the experience would mean to them, how much of an impact it would have on them, when they arrived often only two weeks beforehand,” Cofer says.