VPUE
VPUE
Undergrad
SSEA Student Group

Summer Bridge Programs

Welcome! We're excited to offer both virtual and in-person programs to support you during this important transition from high school to Stanford! There are a variety of opportunities, including online courses and community based programs.

The Leland Scholars Program (LSP), now over a decade old, provides both social and academic coaching over a four-week in-person residential program in August. It is intended for students who may be the first in their family to attend college, or come from a low-income background.

SOAR (Stanford Online Academic Readiness) is a 5-week online program. Students can take either or both of two classes, one of which helps develop math skills to prepare students to start with Math 19, the main Single Variable Calculus course, and the other focuses on the development of crucial writing skills.

Finally, SSEA (the Stanford Summer Engineering Academy) is a four-week program where students come to campus to partake f in Math and Computer Science classes and community-enhancing experiences. As its name suggests, this is intended for students who have at least some interest in majoring in engineering, although that is not a requirement.

Students in any of these programs who identify as first generation/low income are eligible to apply to attend a final one-week residential pre-orientation program called THRIVE that takes place in early September, before other first year students arrive.

You can find more information about each of these programs by clicking on the tabs below! 

Leland Scholars

Leland Scholars Program (LSP)

The Leland Scholars Program (LSP) facilitates the transition to college for incoming Stanford frosh who may be the first in their families to attend college, attended under-resourced high schools, or are from low-income backgrounds.

Learn More About LSP
SSEA Students

Stanford Summer Engineering Academy (SSEA)

SSEA is a fully-funded, four-week summer program that welcomes a cohort of incoming first-year students from across the country and worldwide every August for a dynamic, fully integrated academic and community experience.

Learn More About SSEA
Students with computers. Photo by L.A. Cicero

Stanford Online Academic Readiness (SOAR)

Stanford Online Academic Readiness (SOAR) offers two online courses over five weeks in foundational mathematics and writing to prepare incoming students for further mathematics and writing courses at Stanford.

Learn More About SOAR

Find the Summer Bridge Programs FAQ

Kevin Longoria, LSP VII

"LSP taught me the importance of accepting that I do belong at Stanford and should be proud of my FLI background. I was able to find a loving community who shared many of my struggles and fears coming into Stanford. LSP empowered me and gave me access to resources I would have struggle to find. Through LSP I learned what it means to have a home away from home."

—Kevin Longoria, LSP VII

"SSEA has been transformative for me. Coming into SSEA, I was really apprehensive about engineering and the amount of competition here. But everyone so far has been super collaborative. Especially the professors. It’s amazing to see how qualified these individuals are, and how willing they are to engage with people who are not at their level yet, but are trying to get there."

—Hannah Leou, Stanford Summer Engineering Academy

Hannah Leou
SSEA Students

“I would recommend SOAR particularly for students whose high school mathematics may have not laid great foundations in trig and precalculus. These foundations are utilized routinely in Math 19-21 and having some fluidity with them sure makes life easier and helped me follow along in the lectures (or at least not get hung up on foundational knowledge I should have known).”