CalFresh Eligibility

SSI’s Summer Bridge Scholars are students who are awarded a scholarship to attend the Freshman Edge Summer Program, a 6-week program designed to provide incoming UCI students an opportunity to make the best possible academic and social transition to UCI. Students earn UCI credit and get a head start working towards their degree while meeting other new students, staff and faculty. After the summer, Scholars receive additional benefits including personalized guidance from a professional staff member, peer mentoring, priority enrollment, tutoring scholarships, skill-building workshops, and community-building opportunities.

The Summer Bridge Scholars Program is an Education Opportunity Program (EOP) certify since it meet the following criteria:

Provides assistance in support of employability by providing first-generation college students and students from low-income households and educationally disadvantaged backgrounds with:

  • Mentorship Opportunities
  • Access to Academic Programs
  • Financial Aid Assistance
  • Counseling/Advising
  • Post-Grad Exploration and Planning
  • Other Campus Support Services & Referrals

All Summer Bridge Scholars commit and complete a yearly contract. They must complete a total of nine workshops per academic year (Fall, Winter, and Spring) and three of those workshops must be from the career/employability preparation criteria below. Scholars will submit workshop surveys verifying workshop attendance by the designed due date each quarter. Summer Bridge Scholars are expected to participate in a minimum of three career/employability preparation workshops per academic year.

Fall

  • Securing work study & non-work study on campus jobs
  • Creating Your First Resume/CV
  • Handshake 101/Securing an off campus job
  • Preparing for Interviews
  • Building Your Brand

Winter

  • Career Fairs
  • How to Get an Internship
  • Job Search Strategies / Linkedin
  • Advance Resume Writing
    Mock Interviews

Spring

  • Preparing for Grad School/PH.D
  • Graduate & Professional School Expo
  • Salary Negotiation
  • Beyond Jobs and Internships:
  • Make the Most of Your Summer
  • Taking a Gap Year

Therefore being enrolled in this Summer Bridge Scholars Program increases the student’s employability and is equivalent to an Employment and Training (E & T) component. [7 C.F.R. § 273.5(b)(11).] ACL 17-05 includes non-exhaustive a list of programs that meet these criteria including Educational Opportunity Program (EOP), College Disabled Students Programs and Services (DSPS), Cooperative Agencies Resources for Education (CARE) Program, UC McNair, and Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) Program.