Abstract

This research examined a program of concurrent high school-university studies aimed at promoting students living in underprivileged areas to continue on to higher education. High school students attended university once a week for learning enrichment or participating in full academic courses. Data were collected through interviews and documented meetings with students and their parents, university lecturers, and school staff. The high-achieving students were primarily interested in learning advanced topics in the exact sciences; formal rewards such as raising their probability of being accepted to the university after graduating from high school or credit for future studies at the university were of second priority. The low-achieving students perceived the program as being a window of opportunity to higher education; they truly enjoyed the courses that were anchored in their life contexts, for example, Medicine, Law, and Economics. The most successful courses were those that consisted of class activities, group work or projects, rather than the delivery of content by the teacher. Two principal factors influence the success of a concurrent high school-university studies program: close cooperation between the school and the university in designing courses that match the needs of students from a wide spectrum of scholastic achievements; and close supervision by the school of the students studying at the university and the provision of adequate support in case of difficulties.

Keywords: Access to higher education, high school-university cooperation.