Killian Gray didn’t like high school all that much. There weren’t many courses to choose from, and he didn’t feel challenged in the courses that were offered. A lack of resources prevented the school from offering many college preparatory classes. Gray was bored and frustrated.

Then, a math teacher suggested that he apply to the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) Bridge Program at DePaul University. The program, offered at 12 area universities, allows qualified high school students to take college courses for credit on a university campus. After applying and being accepted to the program, Gray made a decision that would change his academic direction and his life.

"My high school didn’t offer any Asian language classes, or even a survey class in Asian history," he said. "I decided that I wanted to take a course in a subject that wasn’t available at my high school, so I chose a class in Japanese."

The experience was eye-opening, Gray said.

"I found my Japanese class fascinating, and the professors were extremely helpful and engaged," he said. "It was such a drastic change from my experience in high school and it made me very motivated to work hard in Japanese. I looked forward to my Japanese class all week."

Enthusiastic about his new found passion, Gray enrolled at DePaul following his completion of the Bridge Program and high school graduation and majored in Japanese. Now a sophomore, the 19-year-old Chicago resident is studying abroad at Kansai Gaidai University in Osaka, Japan. He keeps an online journal, or "weblog," to document his experiences in a faraway land. And he credits the CPS Bridge program for making it possible.

"The CPS Bridge Program helped me to discover my goals for college, and helped me to get a leg up on completing them," he said. "The experience I gained in the program proved invaluable to me as well as to my college career."

Gray’s experience in the CPS Bridge program is not unique. Since the program’s inception at DePaul and five other "flagship" universities in 1998, more than 700 high school juniors and seniors have completed the program at DePaul. Most all have gone on to college. Currently, more than 300 students enroll in the program annually at DePaul.

"The Bridge Program is a vehicle to identify high achievers early in the Chicago Public Schools," said Glenna Ousley, director of community outreach at DePaul. "In line with DePaul’s mission, the program has broadened the opportunities for hundreds of urban students from underserved communities and paved the way for successful college careers."

Indeed, an overwhelming majority of students in the CPS Bridge Program at the participating universities go on to college. More important, however, is the head start on college studies that the program provides. For Janell Richmond, a graduate of Morgan Park High School in Chicago, participation in the Bridge Program helped give her an advantage when she arrived at DePaul as a college freshman.

"I really enjoyed that I got to interact with college students and get a feel for college life," she said. "I got to know a lot of professors, how classes were taught and what to expect from them in a college class."

There were other aspects of the program that stood out for Richmond, who is currently a sophomore majoring in business management.

"I appreciated the peer mentoring available through the program," she explained. "It was nice to know someone was there to help you when you were still adjusting to a college course."

DePaul is the largest Catholic university in the United States and the nation’s eighth-largest private university. A richly diverse student population of 23,227 attends classes on two city and six suburban campuses.