Puente Project History

Puente was founded by Felix Galaviz and Patricia McGrath in 1981 at Chabot College in Hayward California. After reviewing 2,000 transcript in trying to understand the possible causes of high dropout rates among Mexican Americans, Galaviz and McGrath found that (1) students were not utilizing academic counseling, (2) students were not enrolling in college-level writing courses, and (3) students were first generation college students. The Puente project was then created to address these three problems. Through rigorous English language instruction, intensive academic counseling, and mentoring by members of the community, the program has been successful. The program has expended to 65 community colleges, 38 high schools, and 4 middle schools.