Bridge program preps students for grad school, touches lives

Students in their final year of college are met with a fork in the road: Start working immediately or attend graduate school.

The motivations for pursuing an advanced degree range from gaining specialized training to boosting résumés to competing for higher salaries — but just as each student’s goal is different, so is their familiarity with the graduate school application process.

Carnegie Mellon University Africa hosts a six-week bridge program that invites recent graduates and students in their final year of study to discover the academic and technical skills that will promote their success in graduate school and beyond, like in a business environment.

"Master's studies help students develop strong analytical and critical thinking skills for innovation and problem solving," said Emmanuel Ndashimye, program coordinator and assistant teaching professor.

The bridge program takes a hands-on approach that gives students a glimpse of what it's like to be in graduate school. One of the advantages of its six-week duration is that it mimics the environment and expectations of being in the classroom, such as self-directed learning, independent research, and minimal guidance from instructors — balanced out by learning to effectively collaborate with peers to complete assignments. Staff from the recruitment department also make weekly visits to address questions about application requirements, submissions, and gathering the necessary materials.

"Master's programs encourage students to explore new ideas and contribute to their field in a meaningful way, while undergraduate programs are more about acquiring foundational knowledge," said Dalia Bwiza (MSIT '24), who attended the bridge program before enrolling at Carnegie Mellon University Africa.

A lot of attention is placed on developing communication skills, which are no less important than technical knowledge. The mission of the Mastercard Foundation — which supports the bridge program — is to train the next generation of innovators in Africa’s digital and technology sector. To propose a solution to a community problem, it’s essential to share findings in a manner that the public will understand.

The program is intense, involving weekly presentations that reflect the technical concepts taught during each module. The latest group project revolved around designing a sensor device capable of monitoring air pollution in real-time. Students learned how to program microcontrollers, write codes for capturing data, and incorporate data so that it could be viewed in the cloud.

"Part of the value of this program is seeing students from different universities, backgrounds, and levels of understanding come together to work on a project — they deeply analyze a problem, then design and propose a solution," said Ndashimye.

Since its debut in 2021, the bridge program has continued to grow. CMU-Africa hosts two sessions per year, each attended by roughly 100 students from universities across Rwanda. Recently, the initiative expanded to the African Engineering and Technology Network member universities, which now hold their own sessions.

The bridge program also serves to encourage students from underrepresented groups, including those with disabilities or from refugee backgrounds, to apply to graduate school.

Part of the value of this program is seeing students from different universities, backgrounds, and levels of understanding come together to work on a project.

Emmanuel Ndashimye, Assistant teaching professor, CMU-Africa

Dozens of students who participated in the bridge program have gone on to attend Carnegie Mellon University Africa.

"I remember one student reaching out to me to say that she owed her graduation from Carnegie Mellon to the bridge program," Ndashimye remembers. "When I hear these touching stories, I see how the program is touching lives."

"I approached my coursework and research projects with greater confidence and competence," reflected Bwiza, who also served as a graduate teaching assistant for the bridge program while pursuing her master’s.

"The program showcased the high standards of education and the supportive community at CMU-Africa, which convinced me that it was the right place for my graduate studies."