NASBI : Native American Summer Bridge Institute
About NASBI:
The Native American Summer Bridge
Institute (NASBI) is a summer residential program for high
school Native American students interested in pursuing a college
education. The program invites high school students
preparing to enter their junior high school year to a five day
college life experience designed to assist students interested
in going to college. Students accepted into the program
spend five days at Texas Tech University engaged in academic
classes, campus life events, and other college readiness
activities.
Native American high school
graduation rate is 51%. Of those, approximately 5% proceed
directly to four-year colleges and only 10% of those students
graduate in four years. Of American Indians living on
reservations, only half are as likely as white students to
persist and obtain a bachelor’s degree. Relative to other
minorities and to the general US school-age population, Indian
school children are at or near the greatest risks of receiving
poor education and underperforming at the elementary and
secondary levels (National Center for Educational Statistics,
“Status and Trends in the Education of American Indians and
Alaska Natives”, 2008).
Participants are exposed to the
college environment as they learn how it is possible to achieve
their academic goals and career explorations. NASBI
seeks to spark a life-long interest in learning and continued
education among students, families, and communities.
Now in its fifth year, the program
has graduated over 40 high school students. Of these
students, 80% have been accepted to college. NASBI
monitors students throughout their senior year to assist them in
their college admissions process.