BRIDGE Student Scholarship Challenge

BRIDGE is an invaluable resource for greater Boston. The success of newcomer social workers who have historically not had access to graduate education, including participants from around the globe, is synonymous with the healthy growth of our city. Students admitted to our MSW program face tuition rates that may exceed their family’s annual income. Many do not qualify for federal funding and must rely on grants from BU and private scholarships from generous donors.

To continue our mission, please help provide scholarship support for BRIDGE graduates who are accepted to our school’s MSW Program.

You can provide direct support here.

If you have questions about making a gift or other ways you can make a commitment, please contact Ray Joyce at rayjoyce@bu.edu or call (617) 353-2348.

Boston has long been a beacon for newcomers. Today, these families make up more than a quarter of the city’s population. Yet members of these communities still struggle to access vital services including education, healthcare, and legal counsel. These communities urgently need skilled social workers who can speak their language, understand their culture, and advance their well-being.

To meet this demand—and to promote social justice, a central tenet of our mission—BUSSW created an innovative program to increase the number of bilingual and bicultural social workers: The BRIDGE Program. Through strong outreach to nonprofits and community organizations, BRIDGE recruits aspiring social workers who have historically not had access to graduate education, including participants from around the globe, focusing on those who are college educated and have a passion for social service.

• A free, intensive nine-week program introduces students to the expectations of graduate social work education.
• Those who go on to apply to BUSSW receive guidance on:
  • The application process
  • Writing personal essays
  • Advice on securing funding for tuition

Our students come from more than 35 countries across the Middle East, Asia, and Central and South America, including Morocco, Cambodia, Haiti, and Peru. Many have experienced trauma stemming from civilian or military violence. Some are the children of newcomers who came to the United States and stayed under the DACA program.

Typically, BRIDGE students are raising families while working long hours in service industries such as hotels and restaurants, or as childcare providers. Although they have received college degrees in their native countries, they often lack familiarity with the American educational system and need to strengthen their command of written and spoken English to succeed in a rigorous graduate program. Those who gain entry to the BUSSW MSW program enrich and diversify our classes with the breadth of their life experience and global backgrounds.

Our team includes two faculty members who help BRIDGE students acclimate to the culture of American higher education and guide them as they tackle new concepts and skills. Throughout the semester, professors from BUSSW visit classes and introduce BRIDGE students to key social policy and advocacy concepts and—just as important—get to know them personally.

Those students who are offered a place in our school’s MSW program then take a six-week writing class for additional preparation and are matched with a mentor who is a BRIDGE alum. Students who are not yet ready for the graduate program receive individualized guidance to strengthen their skills, such as a referral to a community college English-language program, and are encouraged to reapply to BUSSW when they’re ready.

BRIDGE has more than achieved its mission since its start in 2007. Alumni who have earned their MSW degrees at BUSSW now serve their communities as accomplished professionals in organizations such as the Child Witness to Violence Project at Boston Medical Center, the American Red Cross, and the Massachusetts Department of Children & Families.