Steven Barthelemy, in class at RIC, is headed to Lasell College in Newton, Mass.

The Providence Journal / Kathy Borchers

PROVIDENCE — A year ago, the 19 students in Moira Collins’ writing class didn’t think of themselves as college material.

People had told Richelene Cesar she was not smart enough to make much of herself.

Francis Reyes was less worried about his academic future than about the dark world that had already taken some of his friends, one of whom had been paralyzed by a bullet.

And Augustina Amaya started hanging out with a tough crowd and got into trouble.

Most students in Collins’ class are the sons and daughters of recent immigrants, all with low incomes. Many of the parents never finished high school.

Yet this fall, Richelene, Francis, Augustina and every one of their 16 classmates will attend a four-year college or university, and all will receive financial aid.

Their road to college became much clearer when they were selected for a pilot program that has joined their large, urban high school, Mount Pleasant, to the state college next door, Rhode Island College.

“None of my kids had ever been on this campus because they didn’t think they belonged or deserved to be here,” said Jessica Geier, who coordinates the Office of Higher Education’s dual-enrollment programs. The RIC program is called Pathways Through College, now in its second year. “This program makes them believe they can go to college.”

The students took five college courses at RIC, spending the spring semester on campus and earning 15 college credits that also count toward their high school graduation requirements. Their tuition, books and other expenses, including staff salaries to run the program and help them apply to colleges, were covered by $75,000 in state money and a grant — about $140,000 this year — from the Nellie Mae Foundation, a nonprofit agency focused on education.

“They are incredibly motivated,” Collins says of the 19 students, who took the same college writing 100 course she teaches RIC’s freshmen. The students, on average, did two to four hours of homework each day — far more than they did in high school. “They say to me, ‘Give us more.’ A lot of their motivation comes from their families and recognizing that they are getting opportunities their families did not get, and a desire to make them proud.”

Saul Lopez, 18, says he was painfully shy before he entered the Pathways program. The college courses, including writing, film studies, literature, and especially public speaking, helped him gain confidence and find ways to express himself.

“I learned that your words can empower people,” Saul said. “I felt I really needed this program. Now I have a taste of what college will really be like.”

Yarelys Sostre, 17, said her mother didn’t finish high school in her native Dominican Republic. Her stepfather never completed middle school.

“They want me to succeed and have a better future than they had,” said Yarelys, who plans to become a lawyer. “I want to show them their struggles are worth it.”

PERHAPS THE MOST valuable aspect of dual-enrollment programs is convincing students they can handle the work, says Jack R. Warner, Rhode Island’s commissioner of higher education.

“We spend a lot of time in education trying to address the question of what predicts success in college, and the answer is nothing predicts success in college like success in college,” Warner said. “So if you expose a student to college-level courses while they are still in high school, now they know they are college material. There is no mystery. They’ve proved it to their professors and to admissions officers. And they’ve proved it to themselves.”

In 2008, Pathways’ first year, 21 of the 22 students went on to some form of college — and the only student who didn’t will enter the pre-engineering program at the Community College of Rhode Island in September, said Geier, the Pathways coordinator. Because the program’s central purpose is to ensure success in college, she tries to keep in touch with all the Pathways graduates.

Ideally, Geier says, the Pathways program would expand, allowing high school students to spend their entire senior year at RIC and take two semesters worth of college courses, earning 30 credits. Then students could finish college in just three years, saving time and money — a concept that is gathering support locally and nationally. Several states are considering three-year degree programs. In Rhode Island, state Rep. Joseph M. McNamara, a Warwick Democrat, has proposed that the state launch a pilot program similar to Pathways that would enable students to take a full year of college courses instead of a semester’s worth.

But a lack of financing means Geier will probably have to scale back Pathways for the 2009-2010 academic year. Students will most likely take just one or two courses next year and won’t be immersed in college culture in the way that this year’s class has been.

“I haven’t given up hope — we are still looking for money,” Geier said. But financing from the Nellie Mae Foundation is drying up, and given Rhode Island’s fiscal crisis, it is unlikely the state can find the money, she said.

TWICE A WEEK, the Pathways students attend public-speaking class with Christine Roundtree, a RIC adjunct faculty member. Many students dreaded the class when it began in January. Now, for many, it’s their favorite.

The students are required to select quotes by famous people and discuss what they mean. They write poems, lyrics and essays to be read aloud and shared with classmates. They dissect noteworthy speeches by Martin Luther King Jr., Hillary Rodham Clinton, President John F. Kennedy and Lou Gehrig.

“We’re in the home stretch,” Roundtree told the group in early May. “I want to talk with you about your networking speeches.”

The previous week, the students were required to pass out copies of their resumés at a networking luncheon, introduce themselves and make small talk, skills that would have intimidated them just four months ago. At the end of the luncheon, each student delivered a one-minute speech. The theme: Why I deserve to go to college.

“I am diligent and I do not give up easily,” said Emerita Ramirez, who was born in Guatemala. “To be honest, I never thought I would finish high school when I was younger. In Guatemala, the lack of opportunities would not have allowed a kid of low resources like me to finish … that is why I took the opportunity to come to this country and fight for my dreams.”

Mayreni Marte, 17, came here from the Dominican Republic two years ago, and people teased her about her thick accent. Last year, she was an English as a Second Language student. This fall, she will be the first in her family to attend college.

Mayreni shared her favorite quote at the luncheon. “It’s from Eleanor Roosevelt,” she said. “ ‘No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.’ ”

THE STUDENTS SELECTED for Pathways are bright, although not all have stellar academic records, and some needed help rising to college-level work. The program requires that students take an intensive writing course before enrolling in RIC’s Writing 100, and it offers remedial math classes — although students do not receive college credit for these classes.

When the students started the program, 70 percent of them needed remedial math courses. By May, that number had dropped to 30 percent. Those students will have to catch up in college.

Oscar Paz, assistant principal at Mount Pleasant, works with guidance counselor Lou Joseph and teachers to identify potential Pathways students.

“We do look at grades,” Paz said. “But more than that, I look for three things. Desire, character and commitment. And these students, they all really want to move forward.”

A lot of students at Mount Pleasant think about college, Paz says. “But most of them don’t have a way to get into college.” About 65 percent of Mount Pleasant students manage to graduate, and fewer than half of those go on to college.

ON MAY 21, the students gathered in RIC’s Student Union Ballroom for a farewell dinner. The next day would be their last day of classes. Then they would return to Mount Pleasant to present their senior portfolios, a state requirement, and prepare for graduation with the rest of the senior class on June 9.

The group had grown close, studying and eating lunch together every day.

“I feel like this is the end of all the hard work I did,” said Mayreni, who brought a friend to the dinner because her parents were working. “I’m proud. I’m nervous.”

Emerita Ramirez’s mother and other relatives filled a table. “I am very proud of her and very happy to be here for the first time,” said Yonit Alegria, in Spanish, of her eldest daughter. Alegria works as a certified nursing assistant. “We never imagined ourselves being here, but thanks to God, she is on a good path to a better future.”

Collins, Roundtree and the other professors who taught the students, Daniel Scott and Philip Palombo, said a few words about each student, and how they had grown over the year.

Each student received an envelope with a letter of congratulations from Warner, a list of tips for college, and a $150 check from Nellie Mae for college textbooks.

“You did it,” Geier told them. Pathways graduates and the colleges they will attend this fall:

Mohammed Adelakun, University of Rhode Island

Augustina Amaya, Rhode Island College

Steven Barthelemy, Lasell College, Newton, Mass.

Cindy Cesar, RIC

Richelene Cesar, RIC

Joann Heyder, RIC

Glorynet Lopez, RIC

Saul Lopez, RIC

Mayreni Marte, RIC

Susana Ortega, Brown University

Emerita Ramirez, RIC

Adrian Restrepo, URI

Francis Reyes, St. John’s University, N.Y.

Alexander Rodriguez, New Haven University, Conn.

Ana Rodriguez, URI

Daury Rodriguez, RIC

Jamy Rodriguez, Johnson & Wales University,

 North Miami campus

Deisi Rossi, RIC

Yarelys Sostre, RIC

jjordan@projo.com