MAACS

Mentoring for Academic Acheivement and College/ Career Success (MAACS) is a college and career preparation program sponsored by BPEF. MAACS was devoloped in 1988 to address the high drop-out and low college attendance rate for Bridgeport Public High School Students. Maacs is unique from other college access programs as it pairs high school students one-on-one with a college mentor. To date, the MAACS program has provided mentoring to over hundreds of students and has a success rate of 96%, of its students going on to college. Click here to become a mentor!

CAP

The College Assistance Program (CAP) is intended to provide Bridgeport high school seniors who have been in the Mentoring for Academic Achievment and College/Career Success (MAACS) program for a minimum of two years with assistance thoroughout their college career. This program was created in 2003 to ensure that MAACS graduates who were admitted to college graduate from college.

The College Readiness Workshops are held at Housatonic community college and were restructured to be completed in one (1) day in an effort to minimize costs and improve student attendance. The workshops are facilitated by professors and professionals from Fairfield County. Students attend interactive workshops to gain additional knowledge of financial aid/budgeting, academic advisement/course selection, collegiate writing, note-taking and interpersonal skills. For the high school graduating class of 2019, ninety-two (92) eligible seniors submitted their applications to the College Assistance Program (CAP), from which fifty-seven (57) completed the workshops and successfully met the requirements to be in CAP.

Benefits of CAP

• $50 stipends each semester upon the staff receiving the student's academic records
• Emergency financial assistance (After successful completion of freshman year)
• Job opportunity as a mentor with the MAACS program beginning sophomore year
• Internships/service learning placement opportunities
• Networking with CAP alumni and community partners
• Advocacy and career planning

Achievements

MAACS and CAP have proven to be effective programs. Based on the data and reports from the National Student Clearinghouse, Youth Services Bureau and the students, we know that MAACS and CAP have a positive impact on the lives of our students. This year MAACS staff continued to be involved in creating and assisting in initiatives that promise to help foster a positive, informed and college-prepared student body. Although MAACS scaled back on programmatic functions due to budget constraints we were able to provide consistent and valuable services to our enrolled students.

Contact Information about programs