College Bridge

30-40% of graduating seniors who are accepted to college and plan to enroll fail to do so in the fall. Failure to matriculate can be traced to the many and complicated application and enrollment tasks that take place over the course of senior year and through the summer.

CARA’s College Bridge program addresses summer melt & the gap in college and career guidance for first-generation college students, low-income students, and students of color. It does this by training current college students, called Bridge Coaches, to support graduating high school students during their senior year, and summer before matriculation, through their college and career application and enrollment process.

College Bridge Program Model

Coach Training

Supervisor Support

Bridge Coaches have 70+ hours of comprehensive training in college access content.

Bridge Coaches develop a range of skills and content knowledge that they then use, alongside their unique near-to-peer perspective, to provide individualized support to graduating students. Trainings include the following topics:

College Applications:
-College List-Making
-CUNY System
-SUNY System
-Private Colleges

Financial Aid:
-Financial Aid Applications
-Financial Aid Packages
-Opportunity Programs

Working with Students:
-Counseling Skills
-Leading College Transition Workshops
-Supporting Undocumented Students
-Professionalism

Career Pathways:
-Certificate Programs
-Workforce Placements
-Matriculation Steps

College Matriculation:
-College-decision making
-Outreach and Engagement
-Caseload Management
-Data Tracking

Peer Leadership for College Access & Success Core Competencies

Peer Leadership for College Access & Success Professional Capacities

Table of Contents
CARA works with schools to help support the integration of College Bridge into existing college office work.
CARA brings College Bridge supervisors together several times a year to support the implementation of the program at their individual schools. CARA also provides:
- Counselor resources such as college match tools and income documentation forms
- Support with data-tracking and planning
- Opportunities to meet with high-level college admission professionals to discuss how admission policies impact students on the ground
- Provision of workshops for College Bridge coaches to run in senior classes

Program Rubric

See College Bridge’s Program Rubric

See our Theory of Change Model

How College Bridge Works

Hire a College Coach

Recruit one Bridge Coach per 100 seniors from your pool of alumni

Pay Bridge Coach $17 per hour for school-based work and training time (10 hrs/week + 74 hours training = 474 hours total) + pay CARA training fee

Make time available during the school day for Bridge Coach to work with students

Supervise your College Coach

Meet weekly with Bridge Coach throughout the school year

Attend CARA Supervisor meetings

Communicate with CARA as needed to support programming

Provide Summer Assistance

Supervise Bridge Coach at least five hours per week during the summer months

Provide space for College Coach to work and meet with students

Give College Coach access to student forms and information needed for college enrollment during summer

Participate in Evaluation

Track and report data to CARA

Participate in assessments as needed by CARA

Complete evaluations of College Coach

"I had a bumpy transition to college and I struggled with finding the right institution and path."

"My work as a College Bridge Coach has played an important role in helping me to understand my own transition to and through college; as I’ve been helping students I’ve also realized exactly why I was struggling and all the resources I wasn’t aware of. I wish I had someone like myself around when I was applying to college."

Ismail (“Izzy”) Hasaballa College Bridge Coach, Academy for Careers in Television and Film

“College Bridge coaches are the best bargain in town."

"They add so much value: they are so skilled, they are our own homegrown talent, they come in with such huge advantages because they know the school, and the students know them.”

JoAnne DiLauro College Counselor, International Community High School

“I never thought that I was going to be able to be enrolled in college."

"I didn’t know the language and that made me feel like I didn’t matter, that I wasn’t important and that I didn’t have anything to offer. Now, I have a really important job in my hands where I can try to reach students, letting them know that they can apply to college. Even though they don’t know the language, they can go to college, obtain a degree, and start working.”

Kimberly Polanco College Bridge Coach, Bronx Theater High School