Bridge to the Future (B2F) Scholars Program

Institution:

California State University, Northridge

State:

California

Academic Level:

Baccalaureate

Issue Area:

Access

Program Focus:

First Year Support, Mentoring

Website:

http://csun.edu/bridge-to-the-future

Key Personnel:

David Boyns

Contact Info:

david.boyns@csun.edu | 818.677.3505

Overview

The mission of Bridge to the Future (B2F) is to build a community-college-career pipeline that promotes academic success through mentoring, relationship building, and community engagement. The goal of B2F is to close the gap in educational access for youth in the community of Canoga Park, California, a community where half of the members identify as Latino/a and has a large first-generation immigrant population. Each year, B2F provides a tuition-free, 4-year California State University, Northridge (CSUN) education to 25 students.

Program Description

Initial needs assessments indicated that Canoga Park High School had lower than expected rates of 4-year college enrollment, especially at CSUN, which is six miles from the school. The program was developed to create sustainable relationships with the high school, improve college attendance and success, while building capacity in the local region. B2F Scholars are provided with the support needed for 4-year degree completion and are expected to contribute 20 hours of community service each semester. B2F Scholars have their own space on campus with access to program-sponsored mentoring, tutoring, and leadership development activities. Bilingual tutoring and mentoring are available and programming is developed in conversation with Scholars, focusing on community projects grounded in their community and that resonate with cultural history.

Outcome

The B2F program currently serves 114 Scholars across six cohorts. B2F Scholars are 83% first-generation college students, 80% Latino/a, and 68% female identifying. Among the six cohorts of B2F Scholars from 2017-present:

Latino students have been retained at a rate of 96% at CSUN (96% for the overall program) compared to 82% for the institution. They have collectively achieved 3.27 GPA higher than the 3.23 for the overall program.
B2F Scholars have collectively completed over 14,500 community service hours (14,000 hours completed by Latino students).
The first class graduated with a 72% 4-year graduation rate and 100% will graduate within 6 years. The second class of B2F Scholars graduated with a 46% 4-year graduation rate, and a 95% 5-year graduation rate. The program will graduate its third class in May 2023.

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