Effectiveness of a Summer Bridge Program at McLennan Community College

Abstract

In this quantitative research study, student performance data were collected from 2014–2016 summer bridge program participants to examine the relationship between participation in the MCC summer bridge program and selected student outcomes by comparison to a matched group of students who did not participate in the program. The research questions addressed in this study were as follows: To what extent did participation in a summer bridge program improve participants’ TSI scores? To what extent was participation in a summer bridge program related to DE placement results? To what extent did the average number of credit hours accumulated differ between students who participated in a summer bridge program and those in a comparison group that did not? The results from the three research questions revealed that students who participated in the MCC summer bridge program experienced some success in select outcomes, although other outcomes still need to be improved to increase student achievement in all objectives.