The Puente Project (Spanish for “bridge”) is a national award-winning program that supports Latine/x and underrepresented students in reaching their academic, career and personal goals. With more than 30 years of rich history at Fullerton College, the Puente Program includes a learning community model where students take academic courses together, receive mentoring from professionals and benefit from individualized counseling services. This integrated approach empowers students to excel academically, achieve their degrees and successfully transfer to a four-year college.

The program’s mission is to increase the number of community college students who:

• Transfer and enroll in four-year colleges and universities

• Earn college degrees

• Return to the community as mentors and leaders

The Puente Program is open to new and continuing students on a first come, first served basis, with 54 spots for the academic year. When the program is full, students will be notified to join the waitlist.

Students must: 

• Complete application during the application filing period

• Mandatory attendance to all free Puente events during the academic year 

• Must be eligible to take the following courses with Puente:

The Puente Program enriches students by building upon the strengths they already bring from their unique backgrounds and cultures, fostering academic success, personal growth, and a deepened sense of cultural pride and identity.

Once in the program, Puentistas have multiple opportunities to participate in a variety of on and off campus events and activities including university tours, cultural and educational events and activities, and opportunities to volunteer on campus.

Among the program’s highlights is the annual northern California experience, which gives students the chance to visit prestigious University of California (UC) campuses such as UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz, UC Davis and UC Berkeley, providing valuable exposure to academic environments.