Entering its third year as an accredited university, Colorado Mesa University welcomed its largest incoming freshman class this fall, offering them an opportunity to get a jump-start on their collegiate career through two preparatory programs. Unlike other colleges and universities throughout the state, CMU opens its doors a week early to give ambitious students a jump start on their education.

Freshman Year Initiative (FYI) and the Maverick Provisional Program (MVP) are both innovative programs geared towards assisting incoming college freshmen with the tough transition from high school to college.

Both programs allow freshmen to become acquainted with the CMU campus, fellow classmates and even professors a week before the normal school year begins. Students are able to gain insight into what a typical collegiate classroom will be like, learn new successful methods of studying, and upon completion may either earn one or two credits, depending on the course.

FYI is $478 for on-campus residents and is worth two credits, while MVP is a brand new program designed for incoming freshmen that scored lower on the accuplacer entrance exam and are registered for provisional classes. The course is worth one credit and is $298 for on-campus residents.

“It was 100 percent worth it, and we would recommend it to all future CMU students,” incoming freshmen Lauren Liska and Samantha McClure said.

“It’s very beneficial to be able to meet the campus professors… get to know the campus a week early,” Liska said, “and it’s nice to be able to make friends before school.”

Both programs were almost filled to capacity and are bound to be a great success in the future due to the fact that CMU is growing at a rapid rate while offering a unique and and affordable education.

The admissions office stated that they would have exact numbers regarding the statistics of freshmen this year come Monday, Aug. 19. Check out Fig. 1 (right) to see the size of previous freshmen classes and check us out online for further updates.