California State University at Fullerton has launched a program to help prepare Santa Ana high school students for college, school officials announced.

The federally funded initiative Upward Bound will help eligible high school students prepare for and succeed in college by offering them year-round academic support and enrichment activities. The program begins as they transition into ninth grade and works with them through high school.

"We're one of just a few federal grants that actually tracks students for six years after high school graduation," Ivan Pena, director of the University program, said in a statement. "We give them the skills that will help them graduate from college."

To better prepare students for the competitiveness of higher education, the university will incorporate a Youth Participatory action Research approach into the six-week Summer Enrichment Program.

This summer's program, which begins June 29 and continues through Aug. 7, will include an intensive writing course, research methods, critical history, environmental science, film studies, introduction to college, and speech and debate. At the conclusion of the program, students will take part in the second annual CSUF Youth Participatory Action Research Symposium. The top students will attend and present their research at the Oct. 1 National Association of Multicultural Education Conference in New Orleans.

Next month, the program will give 36 students from four Santa Ana high schools their first taste of the university experience and learn to think like a college students.