Can Summer Bridge Programs Narrow the “College Readiness Gap”?

Far too many community college students start their postsecondary education without the skills to succeed academically. About 75 percent of incoming students at two-year colleges grapple with the "readiness gap"-- the gap between students' academic skills upon enrolling in college and the skills they need to be read yfor college-level studies. MDRC presents the start of their evaluation of summer bridge programs, which typically occur in the summer between high school graduation and fall matriculation in college.  These programs offer students struggling with the readiness gap accelerated, focused learning opportunities that can help them acquire sufficient knowledge to reduce the need for remediation and better prepare them to succeed in college.