Emerging Scholars Program (ESP)

The ESP program is based on the "Workshop" model developed by Uri Treisman at the University of California at Berkeley. It was initiated at Wayne State University in Fall, 1991, with one Calculus I course; in Fall, 1992, Wayne State became one of the first universities in the country to bring ESP to the Precalculus level.

Students are selected for ESP through an application process. The main criteria for selecting students are that they have the desire to excel in Mathematics and have the willingness to work hard to achieve that level of excellence. As a result, ESP features a very diverse student population with regards to academic background – any student who satisfies course prerequisites and who is willing to dedicate himself or herself to the high expectations of the program would be welcome, regardless of past performance in mathematics courses. While special efforts are made to recruit minority students and women to the program, ESP is open to and welcomes students of all ethnic backgrounds.

Typically, 85-90 % of ESP students pass their courses, with about 75% of them receiving A's or B's. The percentages for regular classes are typically around 55% and 35% respectively. On departmental final exams, ESP classes usually average 15-20 points higher than regular classes.