Bridge Program FAQs

Proposed Interventions for Non- and Proficient Students

Your Proficiency Index Score (P-Index Score, https://www.cuny.edu/academics/testing/testing-faqs/) may impact your admission status to CUNY and the classes and/or majors you can take. The university also changed its approach to developmental education by implementing corequisite courses to speed up students' course progression.

CSI is committed to offering students the best support to succeed in college. Incoming students can participate in the following programs depending on their P-Index Score:

Students with a math proficiency index score below 50:

A             and an English proficiency scores below 48, are strongly encouraged to take the Full Time CUNY-Start program during the regular semesters to develop both skills. These students can also matriculate into the college and benefit from taking JumpStart and acquiring up to 7 college credits in their first semester.

B             and an English proficiency score between 48-64, should take the Part-Time CUNY Start Program (math component only) or Math Start during the summer/winter and English Composition corequisite class (ENG 111P) during the semester to work on their English skills.

Students who choose not to enroll in or do not complete the recommended programs above will ONLY be enrolled in the Liberal Arts Associate in Arts program until they achieve math proficiency. They can then change to another associate degree program of their choice. To declare a Baccalaureate major, students must acquire CUNY's proficiency in math and English and complete at least 12 credits with a cumulative GPA of 2.0. Students may be required to take additional Math courses depending on the major chosen.

Students with a math proficiency index value between 50-59

C             and an English proficiency value under 65 are encouraged to take the FastTrack program (if pursuing STEM, Business, Accounting, Economics, Psychology, and Education majors) to advance to Algebra and Trigonometry without additional support hours (MTH 121, 122, 123).

To improve their English skills, these students can participate in the English Start program or the English Composition corequisite class (ENG 111P) during the semester.

Students who are non-proficient in English (index value between 1-64)

D             can take English Start or ENG 111P to develop their skills.

FastTrack to Algebra

This program will allow students with math proficiency scores of 40-59 interested in STEM or algebra-intensive majors (Business, Accounting, Economics, Psychology, and Education) to advance to algebra and trigonometry without additional support hours (MTH 121, 122, 123, cost; free).

Math Proficient Students

Bridge Program

Students with a math proficiency score of 60 or above are considered proficient; however, they may still be required to take math classes with additional support if they pursue STEM-bound or Business, Accounting, Economics, Psychology, and Education majors. Students who do not meet the level of proficiency (math index value under 75 for MTH 122 or under 80 for MTH 121/123) are placed in MTH 125, a class with two additional non-credit hours. These students can benefit from the 48-hour workshop Bridge Program that will advance them to algebra without support (MTH 121, 122, 123).

Math Camp is a 15-hour workshop for students enrolled in algebra without support (MTH 121, 122, 123).

Chemistry Bridge is a workshop for students without High School chemistry who plan to pursue majors in disciplines requiring a one-year college chemistry sequence (Biochemistry, Biology, Chemistry, Earth and Environmental Science, Engineering Science, Medical Laboratory Science, and Physics).

ESL Students

To determine CUNY Proficiency standard in English, ESL students will be assessed as follows:

• ESL students who do not have a New York State English Regents score will be required to take the Accuplacer Test to determine English proficiency and appropriate course placement.
• ESL students with a New York State English Regents score will be assessed via the CUNY English proficiency index.

ESL instruction is not considered remediation but language development; CSI strongly suggests students with an ESL placement consider enrolling in one of the pre-college support programs listed above before considering corequisite courses.

Notes

CUNY Start

CUNY Start is an innovative program that helps associate degree-seeking CUNY students get a strong start in college. The program aims to help students prepare for college-level coursework and meet CUNY's proficiency standards in math and English before starting credit-bearing courses (cost: $75).

Math Start

CUNY Math Start prepares associate degree-seeking students with significant academic needs in math for college-level coursework (cost: $35).

English Start

English Start prepares associate degree-seeking students to increase their understanding of reading and writing and prepare for college-level coursework (cost: $35).

FastTrack

Offered by the Office of Academic Support, this program provides tuition-free instruction for students with minimal math support who intend to pursue STEM or algebra-intensive majors (cost: free).

Bridge

Also offered by OAS, this program is for students who need to demonstrate a higher level of math proficiency STEM or algebra-intensive majors (cost: free).

Chemistry Bridge

Offered by OAS, this program is for students without High School chemistry who require chemistry for their majors (cost: free).

Math Camp

Short math review workshop for students enrolled in algebra and trigonometry without support (MTH 121, 122, 123, cost; free).

CLIP (CUNY Language Immersion Program)

CLIP is an intensive, low-cost ESL program for students who have been accepted to any CUNY college and are informed that they are not proficient in English.