As part of The Citadel Success Institute (CSI), which began in July, the Summer Bridge Program kicked off for the second year in a row. Rising freshman cadets taking part in the program, especially first-generation college students and those with financial need, were eligible for full tuition coverage for CSI. These scholarships were made possible through a grant from the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education.
“Last year, I was one of many students who received a scholarship for the Summer Bridge Program at The Citadel Success Institute. From start to finish, I can confidently say that the Summer Bridge Program helped me prepare for my first year at The Citadel. It adjusted me to the academics of college life and helped me get a head start on my GPA for the year,” said Cadet Janeya Cox, a sophomore cadet and academic senior at The Citadel. “The staff was fantastic and helped me stay on track with my work despite having a tight schedule from the military side of CSI.”
Cox has returned to this year’s program to work as a full-time peer tutor and mentor.
Students in the Summer Bridge Program are automatically enrolled in EDUC 201, College Core Essentials, a three-credit general elective course focused on college readiness skills such as critical reading and research, academic writing, mathematics and public speaking. The benefits that students in EDUC 201 receive are a personalized summer learning experience, preparation for academic life at The Citadel, small group learning, peer tutoring and mentorship.
After evaluating the success of last year’s CSI Summer Bridge Program, several statistics stood out. More than 90% of students who completed the program matriculated to The Citadel and made significant growth in the areas of algebra, geometry, number and quantity, and statistics and probability. In an exit survey, students ranked the program 4.5 out of 5 for its effectiveness in terms of preparing them for college both academically and socially.