Bridging the Gap: Equipping Marginalized Students for Success in Higher Education

Kyle Phillips | Berea College

It should come as no surprise to higher education practitioners that success rates remain low for first-generation, low-income (FGLI) undergraduates. Recent data from the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) indicates that 56% of first-generation students do not hold a higher education credential after six years (NASPA, 2019), and Johns Hopkins University’s Institute for Educational Policy has found that low-income college students graduate at a rate of just 14% (Bjorklund-Young, 2016). Relatedly, FGLI students continue to report feelings associated with the imposter syndrome, defined by NASPA as “persistent self-doubt and fear of exposure as a fraud that causes many first-generation students to doubt their own abilities” (Dickson, n.d.).

Located in Madison County, Kentucky, Berea College is a small, four-year liberal arts institution. It is unique in that it solely admits low-income college students, the majority of whom come from first-generation households. Berea grants each admitted student a full-tuition scholarship in exchange for service in a campus labor position ranging from office assistants to groundskeepers.

Given the bleak outlook for students of similar backgrounds, Berea has established a deep commitment to providing services and resources to support an otherwise marginalized student population. As part of these efforts, the college’s Office of First-Year Initiatives in 2014 piloted a summer bridge program, Berea Bridge, that sought to combat the dangers associated with imposter syndrome while also connecting its participants with academic and community support. At an institution that typically enrolls approximately 500 first-year students per year, Berea Bridge has served more than 300 incoming students over five years, with promising retention rates among its participants when compared to non-participants and among similar demographics nationwide.

Information about Berea Bridge is sent in a welcome packet to each admitted student after they confirm their intention to attend Berea College. Newly admitted students who are interested in the program can submit their name to a lottery system that selects the participants. The lottery system typically gets about 150 entries from the incoming class; it was designed to prevent overwhelming the program’s resources by limiting the number of participants while also ensuring an equal chance for students who are interested. The number of students in the Berea Bridge cohorts has fluctuated over the years, but the current model chooses 60 incoming students. The lottery selection is largely randomized, but efforts are taken by Berea Bridge staff to ensure the cohort is representative of the larger Berea College student population.

Always cognizant of the college’s unique mission to admit only students of limited financial means, Berea Bridge was designed to be free for its participants. The program runs four weeks over the summer preceding students’ official start at the college. Travel reimbursements are given to allow each participant to travel to campus. Students are also provided campus housing, a meal plan, and a modest stipend for incidentals.

The Berea Bridge program is designed to reflect a typical Berea College experience: Students are assigned a work position for which they are paid, are enrolled in courses rooted in both humanities and quantitative sciences, and given opportunities to engage with the larger campus community.

Bridge students also embark on frequent outings as a cohort in order to foster positive relationships among one another and with college faculty and program staff. Past outings have included high-ropes challenge courses, kayaking, and volunteer work. The program was also designed to foster relationships and community through a living-learning community by housing all of the participants in the same residence hall and randomizing roommate assignments.

Berea Bridge students are held to high academic standards for the two courses they take during the bridge term. The courses are in a variety of disciplines and are specifically designed and reserved for participants. Each course uses a teaching assistant (TA), an upperdivision student with proven success and an interest in assisting lower-division students. Bridge TAs also serve as peer mentors, meeting with students both individually and in small groups to discuss academic or personal concerns, and resident leaders in the program’s living-learning community.

Promising results have emerged for retention and academic performance over the program’s first five years, which are supported by encouraging testimonials from program participants. The average first-to-second year retention rate for Berea Bridge participants is 89.7%, compared to 83.4% for non-bridge participants (Berea College, 2018). Another encouraging result is the first-to-second year retention rates of its male participants (84.5%) compared with a 75.3% rate for non-bridge male students (Berea College, 2018).

Program leaders also gather participant feedback at the conclusion of each summer. A survey collects responses on both the overall program and on its narrower aspects, and responses indicate all participants feel they were better prepared for the rigors of college than they were before the program:

• “Berea Bridge was my very first welcome to Kentucky, with all its glory and collegiate life. It was, in fact, a bridge that connected me with a world full of acceptance, opportunity, and reality. It was a challenging, yet rewarding experience that helped me see how much I could grow with the education I was about to receive once I began classes that fall” (2014 participant).

• “I was terrified to go to a new place where I didn’t know anyone. Bridge gave me the opportunity to make connections in a new place. I was lucky that I could lean on and count on [friends] after the Bridge program. The program pushed me to be more critical and analytical of my studies. I honestly think without the program and skills I learned that I wouldn’t have made it through Berea” (2015 participant).

These sentiments and retention rates underscore Berea Bridge’s success meeting its primary goal to build community, academic skills, and a sense of support for incoming students. Participants leave the program feeling more connected to faculty, staff, and their peers and better prepared to engage in the academic and social transitions that accompany the college experience.

One of the challenges program staff have faced since Berea Bridge’s inception is finding the ideal cohort size. It began with 30 students, was expanded to 60, and was expanded again to 90 students in 2019. To maximize the number of students served while preserving the quality of the program as a whole, Berea Bridge will drop back to 60 students moving forward. This decision was made by program leaders after serving 90 students created difficulties in protecting the intentional design of the program to offer a close-knit, intimate learning community that promotes belongingness and responsive academic support.

Discussions are ongoing with Berea Bridge faculty to foster deeper relationships between the instructors and their TAs with the goal of creating an environment that allows for close collaboration to continue the learning process beyond the classroom. Faculty have also indicated a desire to personally select their TAs and for an additional opportunity to train and collaborate with TAs prior to the arrival of Bridge students.

Berea Bridge faculty have also underscored the importance of having sufficient class time to build academic and study skills with students, and how staff and TAs could be key resources in the development of those skills.

With these potential modifications in mind, Berea Bridge is poised to build on its success with matching incoming, at-risk students to the support, community, and expectations needed to successfully transition them to college.

References

Berea College. (2018). Enrollment, retention, graduation: September 2018. https://www.berea.edu/ira/wp-content/uploads/ sites/27/2018/11/Enrollment-Retention-and-Graduation-Report- October-2018.pdf

Bjorklund-Young, A. (2016). Family income and the college completion gap. Johns Hopkins School of Education, Institute for Education Policy. https://edpolicy. education.jhu.edu/family-income-and-the-college-completion-gap

Dickson, T. (n.d.). Finding the right connections for first-generation students with impostor syndrome. National Association of Student Personnel Administrators. https://www.naspa.org/course/ finding-the-right-connections-for-first-generation-students-with-impostorsyndrome

National Association of Student Personnel Administrators. (2019). First year experience, persistence, and attainment of first-generation college students. Center for First-Generation Student Success. https://firstgen.naspa.org/files/dmfile/FactSheet-02.pdf

CONTACT

Kyle Phillips: phillipsk@berea.edu