By Donald Gilpin

“Access” and “opportunity” are the goals for five different Princeton University summer programs, which this year served about 400 high school, public college, first-generation, lower-income, and transfer students.

Targeting Princeton University students as well as non-Princeton students, the University’s aptly-named Emma Bloomberg Center for Access and Opportunity (EBCAO) this past summer sponsored the following programs: Aspiring Scholars and Professionals (ASAP), Freshman Scholars Institute (FSI), Princeton Summer Journalism Program (PSJP), Princeton University Preparatory Program (PUPP), and Transfer Scholars Initiative (TSI).

The programs present opportunities for undergraduates from New Jersey colleges and universities, students at New Jersey community colleges, incoming Princeton University students, local high school students preparing for college, and low-income high school juniors interested in journalism. All the programs provide ongoing support during the school year, including college counseling, and academic and/or professional mentoring in different ways.

Bloomberg Center Director and Associate College Dean Khristina Gonzalez commented on the mission of the Center and its programs. “The summer months provide a dedicated opportunity to engage students in enrichment activities that help prepare them for the year ahead, including important milestones like applying and transitioning to college, selecting a major, and preparing for graduate school and professional life,” she said in a University press release.

“EBCAO’s vision is that every student has the chance to imagine and fulfill expansive possibilities for their lives,” she continued, noting that the programs help students to define and achieve personal, academic, and co-curricular goals.

The eight-week ASAP program this year hosted 19 undergraduates from New Jersey community colleges and public higher education institutions who participated in research and internships with Princeton faculty and staff mentors. Most of those students will be continuing their paid internships part-time during the current school year.

Some students in ASAP chose to live on campus and others commuted, as they participated each week on their internships, workshops on professional development and research methods, mentor meetings, and conversations on career journeys with Princeton faculty and staff.

College of New Jersey junior Jackie Anderson, who interned at Princeton’s Office of Human Resources and hopes to pursue a career in psychology, public policy, or human resources, said she had turned down three other jobs in order to participate in ASAP, and she called that “the best decision I ever made.”

This summer Princeton’s TSI, in partnership with Mercer County Community College and seven other New Jersey community colleges, welcomed 70 students for a program that included writing seminars, science and engineering classes, college counseling and transfer success programs, and mentorship from Princeton University faculty, staff, and undergraduate course fellows.

Participants completed two credit-bearing courses which they can transfer to their community college and eventual four-year transfer college. Discussions with current Princeton transfer students and in-person and virtual visits with admission officers from a variety of universities were among the summer’s activities in addition to the course work.

“Students appreciate that we’re attentive to their mental and emotional well-being,” said Bloomberg Center Deputy Director Keith Shaw. “We put a great deal of energy into building a welcoming community. Taking two Ivy League courses at double speed in the summer term is no joke, but the students are also having fun, both through our larger gatherings like the Grounds For Sculpture trip and through the friendships and smaller communities they’ve built for themselves.”

Emily Smith, a TSI student from Camden County College, added, “In less than two months, TSI broadened my horizons more than ever before. It helped me determine what college would be a good fit for me, and also showed me the wide variety of options that many universities have to offer.”

FSI, an opportunity offered both on campus and online this year, gave almost 200 incoming Princeton students the chance to experience Princeton University life before the start of the fall semester. Students participating in both the in-person and the virtual experience can earn one or two Princeton credits, learn from Princeton faculty and “become familiar with the University’s many academic and well-being resources, and build community and friendships,” the press release states.

Founded in 2001, the tuition-free PUPP program this summer hosted 72 local lower-income high school students from Ewing, Hamilton, Lawrence Township, Princeton, and Trenton.

The students attended college preparation courses, toured campuses, met with admission representatives, and enjoyed cultural and arts enrichment and wellness and personal development activities. They are continuing their work with PUPP this school year and in future summers.

PUPP alumni often return as PUPP faculty and counselors. Barbara Gruszka, a 2020 Princeton University graduate who is now pursuing a graduate degree in neuroscience at Rutgers University, co-taught this summer’s neuroscience and psychology course at PUPP. “Without PUPP’s support, I don’t think I would have gone on to college to be quite honest,” she said.

The 35 high school juniors from low-income backgrounds who participated in this year’s PSJP program came from 12 different states and Washington, D.C. PSJP was founded in 2002, but this was only the second time it has been offered in a hybrid format with students spending four weeks in a virtual program before coming to Princeton in late July for the annual 10-day journalism boot camp.

Online and in person, the students participated in lectures and workshops with professional journalists, were mentored by summer and college counselors, and reported on a broad range of topics related to current events.

At the end of the program the students published their reporting in the Princeton Summer Journal, covering topics ranging from climate change to book banning.