ABSTRACT
The main goal of summer bridge programs is to more effectively transition students into college, especially those students believed not academically or socially prepared for college (Sablan, 2014). Collaborative college bridge programming helps create more seamless pathways, increases access, reduces redundancy of efforts and thus more efficiently manages resources (Bragg, Kim, & Barnett, 2006). Using Beyond Postsecondary transcript data and extensive data from a large university system, Daniel Douglas and Dr. Paul Attewell (2014) researched the effects of “summer bridge” programs on students. These students began coursework prior to the beginning of their college experience. Their (2014) results were quite encouraging, they found that students who participated in summer bridge programs, from both two-year and less selective four-year colleges, were 10 percentage points more likely to graduate within six years (a typical measure of student graduation success for both types of colleges). Drs. Thomas Bailey and Sung-Woo Cho from Columbia University’s Teachers College Community College Research Center (CCRC) suggest that “intensive bridge programs that take place in the summer before college starts have the potential to make up for weaknesses and allow students to start college at the college level” (2010, pp. 2-3). Many institutions provide more than one type of bridge program given their diverse student body and needs (Kezar, 2000).
