Background: In response to the effort to increase minority enrollment in college science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors, STEM summer bridge programs were created to help minorities with the transition from high school to college with the long-term goal of increasing the diversity of professionals in STEM. The goal of this…

They carry their communities on their shoulders. For many, it is their first time being away from home. They wave goodbye to their families with tears in their eyes. They are unfamiliar with this new landscape. Their culture and language are unexpected. These are the common experiences of incoming Latinx undergraduate students who enter the…

In an effort to improve performance and retention of first-year college students, a few institutions have started offering summer bridge programs. Varying from days to weeks or months, these programs offer an extended orientation to college life, teach specific academic skills and/or content, and help students form social connections with peers,…

The present study examines the outcomes of a 5-week summer bridge writing program at a Midwestern, urban, public university designed to provide remedial instruction for incoming first-year college students, approximately 500 students annually for 7 years. Regression results showed that program participation was a positive, significant predictor on…

Faculty training and development for First-Year Seminar (FYS) faculty at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi (TAMUCC) is conducted in the form of training workshops, bi-annual teaching institutes, and various professional development opportunities. Facilitated workshop content is based on student-centered teaching and learning theories.…

Summer learning loss--decreased academic performance following an extended school break, typically during the period after one grade ends and before another grade starts--is a well-documented phenomenon in North America, but poorly described in sub-Saharan African contexts. In this article, we use the term "grade-transition break" loss…

"Summer bridge programs" are designed to ease the transition to college and support postsecondary success by providing students with the academic skills and social resources needed to succeed in a college environment. These programs occur in the summer "bridge" period between high school and college. Although the content of…

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of a summer bridge program geared toward first-year students at a large public university located in the Southeastern United States. The research question guiding this study was, "Does participation in a summer bridge program increase academic success for first-year college students?"…

Developmental summer bridge programs are a popular strategy for increasing college readiness among recent high school graduates. Aimed at providing an alternative to traditional developmental education, these programs provide accelerated and focused learning opportunities in order to help students acquire the knowledge and skills needed for…

Developmental summer bridge programs are a popular strategy for increasing college readiness among recent high school graduates. Aimed at providing an alternative to traditional developmental education, these programs provide accelerated and focused learning opportunities in order to help students acquire the knowledge and skills needed for…

The Portland Schools Foundation's (PSF) Ninth Grade Counts initiative is a network of more than twenty independent summer transition programs targeting Academic Priority (or "at-risk") students. These programs share a common focus on providing academic support, enrichment, and career/college exposure for students who show early warning…

In 1984, 94 college freshmen attended the SEEK Prefreshman Summer Program at Baruch College in the city of New York. This program, held for six weeks during the summer prior to college, provided skills remediation, counseling, and financial aid to freshmen from educationally and economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Its goal was to improve…

The study sought to determine the effects of a summer bridge program on the academic, personal, and social development of underrepresented and low-income students during their first year at the University of California, Los Angeles. The 1988 cohort of students enrolled in the Freshman Summer Program/Transfer Summer Program (FSP/TSP) were tracked…

In 1990, Queensborough Community College (QCC) conducted a Pre Freshman Summer Program (PFSP) to improve first-time freshmen's basic verbal and mathematical skills and to ease students' transition from high school to college by orienting them to college life. PFSP services, which included remedial instruction, comprehensive counseling, and…

The Summer Transition Training Project was designed to address the needs of visually impaired adolescents and young adults by providing training in transitional and rehabilitation teaching to educators of the visually impaired and to rehabilitation professionals in six western states. This paper describes program design, implementation, and…