Beatrix Runyan is the definition of a nontraditional student. The 29-year-old was home schooled as a child and avoided enrolling in a huge four-year institution like the University of Colorado-Boulder even though her interest was neuroscience and psychology.
“I just wasn’t sure I had the skills to navigate the big college experience,” Runyan said last week. “I wanted to make sure I could manage online platforms and interact with professors.”
Runyan is a lot more confident now thanks to her four year stint as a student at Front Range Community College, which gave her the know-how to succeed in larger classrooms. She said she will use what she learned at Front Range when she begins classes in a few weeks at CU-Boulder.
“Front Range was so useful in so many ways,” Runyan said. “It made me feel like I could take those intermediate steps in the classroom so now I feel confident I can move onto CU.”
Even more students in community colleges like Front Range will get a chance to enroll at participating Colorado colleges and universities, thanks to the new Bridge to Bachelor’s Degree Program. The initiative is designed to give students from all 13 Colorado Community College System schools, who transfer to Colorado universities even more support by making the transfer process simpler and more straightforward, said Front Range spokeswoman Jessica Peterson.
Students in the Bridge to Bachelor’s Degree Program can transfer to participating Colorado colleges and universities without passing a placement test, taking or retaking specific credits, or accruing additional debt, according to Colorado Community College System news release.
CCCS works with partner institutions to provide streamlined transfer services, academic counseling, advising and even financial aid in some cases to support students, according to CCCS.
CU-Boulder signed onto the program in July, adding another university that community college students can choose as their destination school. The program is another tool to help increase access to higher education in Colorado — by allowing students to begin their education close to home and lowering the overall cost of college, CCCS states.
Since Bridge to Bachelor’s launched in June 2020, more than 5,000 students have registered for the program, and more than 220 are now eligible to enroll with a four-year college or university partner, CCCS states.
In an average year, Front Range transfers more than 900 students to CU-Boulder, Peterson said via email. “What Bridge to Bachelor’s does is give those community college students additional support to smoothly transfer to the university — and help them prepare to do really well when they get there,” Peterson said.
Staff from Front Range started meeting with CU-Boulder’s transfer team in April, and they are now meeting monthly, she said. “The idea is to make sure that our students in the …program get the right kind of support — both on the ground here at FRCC and when they arrive at CU,” Peterson said.
