Research to Help California’s Puente Project Grow and Reach More Students
WestEd’s Center for Economic Mobility is studying what makes the Puente program successful at helping students pursue higher education so that its proven strategies can be scaled effectively and sustainably.
The Challenge
For over 45 years, the Puente Project has helped tens of thousands of California students—primarily first-generation college students— succeed in earning bachelor’s degrees from 4-year universities. They train middle school, high school, and community college teaching and counseling faculty to provide strong instruction, focused academic support, and community mentoring. Students enroll in classes as a cohort, attend linked classes, get paired with a mentor, and participate in field trips and other out-of-class activities with the goal of building shared accountability for one another.
Now Puente plans to expand to all California community colleges and support even more students across the state. The goals of the program include the following:
- Get more students into 4-year colleges and universities.
- Help more students graduate.
- Support graduates in becoming mentors and leaders in their communities.
The challenge? Puente needs to figure out which parts of its current program model can be expanded affordably to reach more students at every community college in California.
How We’re Taking Action
WestEd’s Center for Economic Mobility is partnering with Puente to document educational outcomes for participants and to clarify key practices and contextual supports that can be replicated, enhanced, and scaled to support more students across the state. In addition, our team is exploring Puente’s professional development model to ensure that more college practitioners can implement Puente’s proven approach.
By using a community-based participatory action research approach, we have paired analyses of college-going rates with students’ perspectives on how each component of the program has influenced their academic trajectory. For example, students emphasized that the noncognitive skills taught in Puente—such as building hope, creating a sense of belonging, and fostering community—are critical to their success.
Specifically, we found the following:
- Fostering hope acknowledges students’ aspirations while also providing the guidance and support they need to navigate and succeed in college.
- Emphasizing belonging creates a validating and supportive environment where students feel seen, heard, and valued. It encourages them to share their stories, strengthen their identities, build meaningful relationships, and recognize that they belong in college.
- Building community ensures that students do not navigate their educational journeys alone. This sense of community creates a powerful and lasting network of support that helps students connect, persist, and thrive throughout college and beyond.
Want to learn more about our work with the Puente Project? Contact our team at [email protected].