Bridging the diversity gap: Fours years of success

Since 2000, the Minority Engineering Program (MEP) in the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering has held an incoming first year student Bridge program in July. This program has averaged a one-year retention rate of 80% or higher for the past four years. This paper will provide information on the Bridge program such as program components and activities. The MEP SUMMER BRIDGE PROGRAM (SBP) prepares underrepresented ethnic minority students for success in engineering at ASU. The program offers room and board, classroom materials and supplies, and academic scholarships. There is no registration fee to attend. The academic scholarships help to offset the loss of wages for those students who must take two weeks off from work to attend the Program. This two-week academic program provides students the opportunity to reside on campus and to experience university life while attending classes, tours, and working on a group project in their major. The compact two-week schedule helps the students begin to make the adjustment to university life since it is in sharp contrast to the demands made on them in high school. There are no name tags and by the end of the first week all of the students know each other by name and forge friendships that often last for years. Further, this paper will provide data on persistence rates and graduation rates of all the Summer Bridge Program participants since 2000. It will also provide data on reasons why some of the student left engineering, on where they went, and on their graduation and persistence rates after leaving engineering at ASU.