Bridges to a Brighter Future
Bridges to a Brighter Future at Furman University is a nationally awarded comprehensive college access and success program designed for Greenville County, South Carolina, high school and college students whose potential outdistances their circumstances. Bridges is an academic program designed to expose students to college life while addressing and eliminating the personal, social, and cultural barriers that often prevent low-income and first-generation students from achieving college graduation.
Mission – Vision – Programming
Our Mission
Bridges to a Brighter Future’s mission is to transform the lives of students, whose potential outdistances their circumstances, by providing educational access and opportunity through a comprehensive program that builds self-confidence, resiliency, and leadership to break the cycle of poverty through post-secondary education.
At the core of Bridges to a Brighter Future’s mission is an understanding that the effects of generational poverty hinder equitable post-secondary education access. One of the ways to address generational poverty is by providing high school students access to opportunities and experiences that prepare them for post-secondary success.
Bridges Programming
First and foremost, Bridges to a Brighter Future at Furman provides academic support and engagement for our students to prepare them for current and future challenges and triumphs. We provide Bridges Scholars and their families with the knowledge, resources, guidance and confidence to graduate from high school, successfully plan to complete college, and enter the workplace equipped for success.
Our History
Bridges to a Brighter Future began in 1997 through the vision and founding endowment of a very special woman in Greenville, South Carolina, Ms. Mamie Jolley Bruce. Ms. Bruce grew up in Greenville, graduated from Greenville Senior High School and went on to graduate from Randolph College in 1944. Bridges began as a four-week summer academic enrichment program serving students from three Greenville County high schools: Greenville, Carolina, and Southside. Twenty-one students were selected to form the first class. The first class attended the first four-week summer program at Furman University in the summer of 1997. In 2000, the program expanded the number of schools served by Bridges to a Brighter Future to include all fourteen Greenville County high schools. The program now welcomes up to 27 outstanding students from all Greenville County public high schools and five charter schools each year. In 2005, Bridges programming was expanded to include Saturday College, providing year-round academic support. In August 2023, Bridges officially became a part of the Student Life department at Furman University, creating a direct connection to college life and learning opportunities.
Learn How to Apply
Bridges to a Brighter Future at Furman University provides academic support and engagement for our students to prepare them for current and future challenges and triumphs. We provide Bridges Scholars with the knowledge, resources, guidance and confidence to graduate from high school, successfully plan to complete college, and enter the workplace equipped for success.