KUEST Bridge program sets engineering students up for college, career success

On one bright and balmy summer afternoon in Learned Hall, incoming freshmen students listened intently as Elaina Sutley, Diane M. Darwin Chair’s Council Associate Professor and Associate Dean for Impact and Belonging in the School of Engineering, explained an upcoming research project on artificial intelligence usage to advance the engineering field.

The rest of the Lawrence campus was quiet from the usual lively bustle of foot traffic as KUEST Bridge students arrived on campus five weeks before the start of the fall semester to receive extra math training, as well as become accustomed to life at the University of Kansas.

The bridge program provides incoming engineering freshmen with opportunities to build their foundational pre-calculus knowledge to improve placement in math courses, familiarize themselves with the rigors of the program and equip them with the skills and resources they need to succeed in their academic career. It also gives students a chance to build early bonds with their fellow students. This year’s course, which ran from July 19 to Aug. 14, is part of the broader KUEST program (KU Engineering, Science & Technology), which helps students transition from high school to college. 

Sutley, who is also director of the program, said students who placed into and completed pre-calculus or higher during their first year are more likely to remain in the engineering program and graduate than those who didn’t. According to the school, about 30% of engineering students who start in pre-calculus graduate, compared to 65% who start in Calculus 1, and a majority of those who start in a remedial math course do not complete an engineering degree. However, some area high schools do not offer pre-calculus-level math classes, which can essentially block many potential students from the career.

“It will elongate their time to degree completion if they don't start out in Calculus 1 or pre-calculus,” Sutley said. “Every semester added is expensive and every class added just creates bigger barriers of entry. From an impact and belonging standpoint, what math class you are able to take in high school should not be the determinant of whether you get to train and become an engineer.”

Building a Foundation

Twenty-five students completed this year’s program, up from 12 students in 2022. According to a 2025 report, this increase was the result of collaboration with the school’s recruitment team and emailing program details directly to admitted students and their families.

Sutley and Palvih Bhana, impact and belonging and project coordinator, expanded upon a 2021 pilot program, which at the time was hosted online and supported a handful of students.

They met with additional representatives in the School of Engineering and Academic Affairs to discuss needs to form the program and logistics. They also worked with the Department of Math to teach the students, as well as the enrollment team to promote the program.

In addition to the training, the four-week course covers housing and dining costs for admitted students, thanks to funding from the William Wright Brown Family Philanthropic Fund, as well as additional support from a number of corporate and individual gifts. Through that generosity, Sutley said she hopes the program can someday grow to not only serve more students but also offer course credit.

“The students work so hard with the math,” she said. “Over 50% of our engineering students come in with at least three credit hours of transfer credit because they're taking AP classes or otherwise in high school. Our bridge students tend to not be in that boat, and so if they were able to have college credit before they started, I think that would be a huge boost in confidence.”

A typical day of programming typically includes math instruction, career guest speakers, research opportunities, social activities and more — a crash course in how to succeed in college and their professions beyond. KUEST Bridge ultimately culminates in a research project and presentation. Sutley said one of her favorite parts is seeing the students interact with the career guest speakers because they often generate engaged discussion and sometimes even work opportunities. 

“They’re comfortable with each other because they're together all day, every day, so they'll ask the speakers a lot of questions,” Sutley said. “Each year it seems like we've had at least one student get an internship from one of the speakers. That's not necessarily a goal, but sometimes one of them will just make such a strong connection like, ‘Oh my gosh, that person's doing exactly what I want to do,’ and we'll get ahold of them, and something will come from it. That’s been great.”

Bhana said the personal and behavioral growth of students is immense. Even after one week, students initiated playing video games and getting dinner together.

“The change that I see in the students by the end of the program is that they have more confidence in themselves as they can navigate their way around campus,” she said. “The most important component of this program is that these students have built friendships and connections so that on the first day of classes, they already have friends.”

That impact has likewise inspired students to become mentors for future cohorts.

A Cycle of Giving Back

Having gone through the experience themselves, KUEST leaders work closely with bridge students as peer mentors and guides not only during the summer course but throughout the school year as well.

The peer mentors said they appreciated the program giving them a head start on navigating college and an opportunity to step out of their comfort zones.

“It’s like you get a mini college experience from it,” sophomore Jason Romo said. “Once the actual school year started, it was easy to get into because first of all, you already have the connections and friends you made during the program, and on top of that, it helped me break out of my shell even more. Like during my math lectures, I would talk to new people.”

Junior Abby-Marie Tong is mentoring for a second year in a row. She said the program helped her acclimate and make new friends, and when classes began, she already had a built-in study group.

“It was really helpful, and the reason why I wanted to come back and become a leader was I wanted to give back,” Tong said. “The program helped me a lot, and I wanted to see the new freshmen cohort come in and also break out of their shells. I wanted to help them acclimate to college life like how they helped me. It's just really fun to see and help around.” 

From sharing study resources to organizing water balloon fights, the leaders are on hand to provide approachable guidance, coordinate social activities and answer all kinds of questions new students may have.

“The math help was amazing and even more so, just the multifaceted mentoring,” sophomore Alex Keuss said. “Most mentors will help you with a certain club or class, but I could ask my mentor, and he could help me out with basically any type of question, whether it be friends, clubs, classwork or schoolwork.”

Sophomore Kaleb Blakemore added that openness was something he wanted to impart on current bridge students.

“Throughout the school year, if we can just give them the confidence to first reach out to people, but also reach out to us, I feel like we did our job right,” he said.

Find out more about the KUEST programs and the School of Engineering’s efforts to expand opportunities for students on the school’s website.