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The Influence of a Summer Bridge Program on College Adjustment and Success: The Importance of Early Intervention and Creating a Sense of Community

This paper focuses on the factors influencing the academic success of students participating in a student support and retention initiative at a large, urban, public university: a " bridge " program. The summer bridge program is an intensive two-week program designed to introduce first-year students to collegiate-level expectations for writing, mathematics, communications, critical inquiry, campus resources, and study skills. The authors report how multiple methods were employed to assess how effective the summer bridge program has been in helping first-year students make successful transitions to college. Results suggest that the bridge participants had higher levels of academic performance (first-semester grade point averages) and levels of persistence (one-year and semester retention rates) compared to non-participants even while controlling for academic preparation variables and student background characteristics. Although first generation scholars reported that the program helped them adjust to college life, the findings were mixed in terms of scholar-bridge program participation and subsequent academic performance levels. The 2006 cohort of scholar-bridge participants did not attain significantly higher levels of academic performance compared the 2005 cohort of scholars who did not participate. The implications of developing effective early intervention support programs for at-risk college students are discussed.