Minnpost – St. Paul College, a two-year school in the Minnesota State system, offers a College Readiness Academy for “New American” students (as the school calls them) or other students who are not quite ready for college-level work. Similarly, St. Cloud State University offers a summer Advanced Preparation Program to help first-year students, many of them from immigrant and refugee families, polish their academic skills.
Moreover, some schools are trying to help students who are new to American culture develop a less tangible, yet crucial, ingredient for academic success: a healthy sense of place and identity. The idea is to foster emotional connections that can empower students from any cultural background.
