McAuley Scholars Program

Academically talented eighth-grade students from private middle schools can experience an exceptional opportunity to become a Laker a year early as a McAuley Scholar at Mercyhurst Preparatory School. For more than a decade, the McAuley Scholars program has consistently attracted motivated, mature, and disciplined students.

The McAuley Scholars Program is for students who have completed seventh grade and want to maximize their academic potential. Completion of the McAuley Scholars Program sets a Laker on course to jump-start the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program and/or begin earning college credits through Mercyhurst University as a high school junior or senior.

McAuley Scholars take math and science at Mercyhurst Prep in their 8th grade year. We offer two levels of Algebra I: College Prep and MPS Pre-IB as well as two levels of Foundations of Scientific Inquiry (FSI): College Prep and Honors. Students attend Mercyhurst Prep from 8:20 a.m. to 9:50 a.m. daily and are fully immersed in the Mercyhurst Prep curriculum. If the McAuley Scholar enrolls at Mercyhurst Preparatory School their freshman year, credits earned in the program will become part of their Mercyhurst Preparatory School high school transcript.

The application process begins in April of the students 7th grade year. Principals from each qualifying school provide us with a list of students they recommend for the program. We offer placement testing to those students to determine what level will best suit them. For more information about how to become a McAuley Scholar, contact Allison Orlando at 814.824.2323 or by email.