The U.S. Department of Education has awarded Copiah-Lincoln Community College’s Wesson Campus more than $1.4 million dollars to fund an Upward Bound Program for the next five years beginning Sept.1, 2022.

Co-Lin’s Upward Bound program will serve 60 low-income and first-generation students at the following high schools: Bogue Chitto, Brookhaven, Crystal Springs, Enterprise, and Hazlehurst.

The Upward Bound program at Co-Lin will provide participants with academic tutoring; second and post-secondary advisement; college entrance exam preparation; instruction in assistance completing financial aid applications; financial and economic literary; instruction in mathematics, laboratory science, foreign language, and literature; exposure to cultural events and academic program; career exploration, and an on-campus residential program. Participants must have completed the eighth grade and be at least 13 years old, but not older than 19.

“This is an exciting day at Co-Lin as we announce that the Upward Bound program will return to the college’s Wesson Campus,” said Co-Lin Executive Vice President Dr. Dewayne Middleton. “Upward Bound will make a significant difference in the lives of 60 high school students from five schools in our college district, and for generations to come. We are eager to see the program kick-off in September and to begin serving our community.”

The purpose of the Upward Bound program is to provide opportunities for participants to succeed in their precollege performance and ultimately in their higher education pursuits. Upward Bound serves high school students from low-income families; and high school students from families in which neither parent holds a bachelor’s degree. The goal of Upward Bound is to increase the rate at which participants complete secondary education and enroll in and graduate from institutions of postsecondary education.