Programs
DDC has 2 primary programs from which we organize activities for over 1,000 students in grades 7 through 12, and support high school and/or college reentry students up to age 27.
Upward Bound (UB) is an intensive academic immersion for 165 students who show promise for college success. Underachieving 9th and 10th graders are targeted for year-round academic enrichment, skills building, and guidance, continuing each year through high school graduation and college entrance. After school tutoring, Saturday enrichment and the residential Summer Academy at Columbia are required components.
Talent Search (TS) is a youth development program with a broad array of services for over 750 students ages 12 through 27. There is a middle school component to prepare for high school enrollment, and a high school program that enables students to choose from among workshops, tutoring, academic classes, internships, and field trips ranging from careers to science labs.
Upward Bound and Talent Search are two of the Nation’s TRIO programs funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education. Columbia’s Upward Bound Program was among the first seventeen projects piloted across the country in the summer of 1965.
Year-Round Core Services
- Tutoring: One-on-one and small group in all academic subjects
- Classes/Labs: Small group classes, mini-courses and science lab exposure
- Test Prep: Small group and individual standardized test prep, including the SAT and Regents exams
- Workshops: Small and large group activities to develop college, career, leadership, and life skills awareness
- Counseling: Academic, college, career, financial aid, personal, and youth development
- Extracurricular: Clubs, competitions, internships, cultural excursions, college trips, and daily access to the college prep library, internet-capable computers, and the Center’s professional staff
Students participating in Columbia campus activities have at least one required DDC activity each term, such as tutoring, workshops, exam prep, or academic enrichment classes.