Marie Jean Louis is a biotech whiz. She wants to be a pharmacist and is taking an unusual route to dispensing pills and potions. She is a student at CityLab Academy. “It was a steppingstone for me,” she said.

CityLab Academy is a competitive program sponsored by Boston University, according to Sophan Sok, a recruiter at the institution.

The free, two-semester program is for high school graduates and GED recipients interested in the field of biotechnology who cannot afford to pay tuition at a regular college. CityLab is a nine-month commitment which awards its students 12 college credits towards their undergraduate degrees.

The program was designed due to the growing popularity in the field of biotechnology and to meet the high demands of biotech employers, said Sok.

“[Students] don’t understand that science is so broad, you do not have to be scientists at all,” she said. “There are so many other options.”   

Louis, 22, will be graduating in 2012. After getting her high school diploma from Community Academy of Science and Health in Hyde Park, she enrolled at CityLab. “I was overwhelmed going from high school to college, but I was able to manage it,” she said.

Louis said she feels only good things came out of this transition. “I think that if you work hard, something good comes out of it,” she said. “If you’re able to do the work, and pass it in, and know what you’re doing, it’s ok.”

Latoya Boman, 25, a graduate from Charlestown High who went to CityLab, has nothing but praise for it.

“I wouldn’t change anything,” said Boman. “It affected my life in a positive way and it helped me establish relationships.”

 After graduating from the program, Boman was able to obtain a job within four months, and is currently working as a facility technician at Merck Research Laboratories in Boston. She is taking classes at BU to finish her undergraduate degree.

Both Louis and Boman said they were a little intimidated by the program at first, but once they got into it, each succeeded.

“It was moderate, not too hard, it wasn’t too easy, as well,” said Boman. “It had a lot of challenges.”

Sok believes that CityLab Academy has benefits beyond its student body. “The more educated people you have,” she said, “the better your community will be.”