Bridge Year allows a select group of incoming freshmen to defer their enrollment for a year in order to engage in public service at one of four international locations. During their Bridge Year, students are immersed in a foreign culture -- they live with local families and work on community-based service projects that range from promoting literacy in India to building cleaner-burning stoves in Peru. When they arrive on campus the following year, they have a broader perspective, greater insight into their own interests and abilities, and a deeper appreciation of the value of service.

“It showed me how much I can learn and accomplish in a short period of nine months, as well as how real change and progress actually occur.”
—Joseph Barrett ’14