Effect Of Pre Freshman Program On Minority Students In Engineering

The College of Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Michigan-Dearborn decided in early 1990s to increase, retain and graduate more minority students than in years before. A study was conducted to determine specific areas in engineering programs that impacted students’ success; it revealed that students’ performance in the first two calculus courses and physics were key to their subsequent success in engineering programs. To address this, a summer bridge in mathematics was developed and implemented. This was followed by academic year activities in tutoring and collaborative learning in key freshman and sophomore year courses. Most of these activities were initially funded through a NSF-AMP coalition grant but are now institutionalized through other sources. This report highlights the positive impact of the 4-week summer bridge program and academic year activities on the retention and graduation of minority students in engineering and computer science at the University of Michigan-Dearborn.