The Challenge of Summer Bridge Programs

Abstract

Given the number of students who enter postsecondary education not ready for college, many universities have instituted summer bridge programs to better transition students to their freshman year. These programs occur during the summer before a student's freshman year and are considered a bridge from high school to college. Yet despite the prevalence of these interventions across postsecondary institutions-community colleges and 4 years, public and private-few empirical studies exist evaluating these programs. The objectives of this article are to (a) provide a characterization of the breadth of summer bridge programs, (b) review the extant literature on summer bridge programs, and (c) discuss implications of these reviews for the future of summer bridge programs.

Building Better Bridges into STEM: A Synthesis of 25 Years of Literature on STEM Summer Bridge Programs

“…Bridge programs take substantial time, effort, and resources due to their immersive nature, so a question that often arises is, What is the impact of bridge programs on students? Surprisingly, there are few review articles of bridge programs, and the ones that exist only summarize a subset of bridge programs (e.g., Kezar, 2000 ; Sablan, 2014 ). To our knowledge, there has been no comprehensive review of the literature on STEM bridge programs.…”

Examining the effectiveness of an alternate admissions program on self-efficacy and persistence of first-generation students : a case

“…This study also fills a void in current research highlighted by Sablan (2014), a lack of qualitative research on SSS/EOP and, in particular, phenomenological research. In addition, there is a gap in the literature concerning programs specifically targeted at first-generation students and the impact they have on students' self-efficacy and persistence.…”

“…By conducting a case study, I was able to study in-depth the STEP/CAP program, and from rich descriptions, hopefully I provided the reader with an in-depth understanding of what components of the program students found most beneficial. Also, the case study hopefully filled a void in the literature since currently "almost none of the studies conducted involved any ethnographic or phenomenological investigations of programs that might provide in-depth insight into the cultural and social experiences of students in these programs" (Sablan, 2014(Sablan, , p. 1047. This research is of national importance since it enhances the conversation of how this type of program provides access for first-generation students and also identifies the strategies that enable them to persist and graduate at the host institution.…”

“…Department of Education, 2005). In a review of studies conducted on summer bridge programs, a major component of SSS/EOP, Sablan (2014) noted that the majority of studies were focused on the academic curriculum components of the programs. This research was valuable since it provided a link between the program and its goal of improved grade point averages and retention of participants.…”

Participatory Action Research (PAR) as Formative Assessment of a STEM Summer Bridge Program

“…These programs are important to examine, because they serve as an initiation into engineering majors and are usually students' first encounter with the college environment. A recent literature review of bridge programs stresses the need for effective formative assessment to bring about positive changes in future iterations of these programs [15], and another review points out that few assessments of bridge programs have used qualitative methods [16]. A notable exception is a qualitative analysis of the Meyerhoff Scholarship Program at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, which utilized focus groups to elicit student perspectives on a variety of program-related topics [17].…”