To the extent that community college leadership seeks to provide access and equity to traditionally underrepresented groups, summer science bridge programs attempt to provide access to underrepresented science students. The problem addressed by the researcher is the impact of grade point average or science degree attainment of community college participants in a long-running summer bridge program. The study purpose was to compare program participation on participants' science degree attainment and grade point average with demographically comparable non-participants. Tinto's model of Student Retention is used to frame this study to understand and support student retention as strongly predicted by the students' degree of academic and social integration at the institution. The researcher employed two independent-samples t-tests to this quantitative study to evaluate whether grade point average differs and whether degree attainment differs by participation in the program. Chi-square test of independence was conducted to assess potential differences in students' retention. Based on a G*Power analysis a minimum of 34 students was required to be convenience sampled from the summer intervention. The target population comprised 38 program participants spanning and including years 2006 to 2012. There was no statistically significant difference in the GPAs of BioPREP and non-participating NCC biology majors. By using the chi-square analysis, higher education retention rates are related to participation in the bridge program, which is consistent with summer program literature. Academic leaders, educators, and program managers can apply findings to practice or theory to incorporate bridge programs as a stepping-stone for underrepresented science students as a gateway to higher education and retention. Recommendations for future study must consider the reliability of grade point average as a program success indicator, as results were mixed. Additionally, program duration must be considered as program length varies. Also, a mixed method approach that incorporates the use of survey, either throughout the program or summative that is merged with archival data would strengthen arguments about generalizability and lend a voice to numerical values. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]