The Bridge Scholarships Program is an extensive scholarship program which offers students scholarships for the 1st and further years of their studies.
It was initiated in 2002 by our partner, the Polish-American Freedom Foundation in response to a serious social problem – the clear disparity of access to higher education between urban and rural youth. The program helps talented young people from small localities, including former state-owned farm areas, make the decision to begin university studies by offering them first-year scholarships.
The Program is aimed at ambitious and talented secondary school graduates from small towns, families of modest financial means who plan to continue their education at university. By granting the scholarship for first year of studies, the program supports young people who take up studies and opens the door to an extensive scholarships system for further years of studies. The scholarship beneficiaries with excellent academic performance stand a chance of being granted financial support for further years of their studies.
THE PROGRAM OFFER INCLUDES:
- bridge scholarships for the 1st year of studies
- scholarships for the 2nd year of studies under the “PRYMUS” [“TOP STUDENT”] program
- scholarships for the 3rd and 4th year of studies
- language scholarships
- scholarships enabling completion of a part of studies at a foreign university
- internships abroad, in the United States
- soft skills workshops
The Bridge Scholarships are one of a few non-governmental scholarship programs of such a great scale in Poland. It is possible thanks to a vast group of PARTNERS. It is financed by the Polish-American Freedom Foundation, the National Bank of Poland, the Inter Cars Foundation, the Foundation Center im. Profesora Bronisława Geremka, and a coalition of some 60 local NGOs.
So far 26,500 of different types of scholarships have been granted under this program, and 18,000 for the first year of studies. Partners have donated almost PLN 135 mln for twenty one editions of the Program.
For more information about the program please go to: www.stypendia-pomostowe.pl