She carries a college ID, has privileges at the university library and likes being responsible for getting to class on time without bells. She enjoys walking around a spacious college campus free of fences.

Spending time on a college campus has inspired Panhia to pursue a nursing degree at the University of California at Davis after she graduates from high school.

Panhia and 139 other 10th-graders are part of McLane High's Turning Points Academy, a program in its 10th year of steering average students toward college.

"The middle kids were the ones there was never anything for," says Ann Alvarez, a teacher in the program.

The program, the only one of its kind in the Fresno Unified School District, is so successful that officials are pursuing a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to extend it to include the junior and senior years and perhaps pay for a coordinator.

Students in the program are bused every morning from McLane to California State University, Fresno, to take sophomore-year classes in English, history, science and math, taught by McLane teachers. Students also take two electives -- physical education, drama or academic language development -- taught by Fresno State instructors.

The PE class is a regular Fresno State course. The drama class is just for the McLane students, taught by graduate students pursuing teaching careers. The language development class also is specifically for the McLane students, preparing them for college by teaching note-taking and college literacy skills.

Fresno State donates the classroom space, and McLane pays the discounted fees for its students to take university classes. Fresno State would not likely have classroom space for McLane students to take classes there beyond the one semester. But McLane would like to expand the program to at least keep the group of students together in classes at McLane for their last two years.

Neither campus has tracked students in the academy, started during the 1994-95 school year by Fresno State and McLane educators, to see whether they enrolled in college in greater numbers than those not in the program. But research by Fresno State's School of Education and Human Development is encouraging, says Professor Jody Daughtry. Academy students:

Had better attendance and grades than the average rates for all McLane sophomores.

Were better prepared for college in language and study skills.

Showed more interest in attending college than a comparable group of students.

"We know it's a program that works," says Matt Ward, a teacher in the program for four years. "It's a really hands-on way to get kids exposed to college."

Panhia, whose family immigrated from Laos, says the academy is preparing her for college.

"I think this program is really wonderful," she says.

Alice Phrakonkham says it's easier to learn in a calm college atmosphere: "There's no people bugging you about things like who's going to fight who."

Students are more disciplined and mature after going through the program, Alvarez says."Teachers say they can always tell the Turning Points Academy students."