Our mission is to prepare you!
Through counseling, writing, and mentoring, Puente students are prepared to transfer
to
four-year colleges and universities and return to the community as leaders.
Interested in Joining Puente for the 2025-2026 Academic year?
If you are interested in being a Puente student, please use the form on the left side under "Puente Intake Form" to submit our program interest form to be included in the interest list for the Fall 2025 - Spring 2026 academic year. The Puente coordinators will connect with you for an information session and to schedule an orientation. All interested students must attend an orientation session and be eligible to take both English 100 and Counseling 100 during the fall 2025 semester. If you have further questions regarding the Puente Program, please send an email to mccpuente@miracosta.edu.
Puente Celebrates 30 Years at MiraCosta College
San Diego ABC Channel 10 Story
English Instruction
Puente students take two consecutive writing classes, English 100 and English 201. These classes provide a supportive and stimulating environment for Puente students to build confidence in their writing skills through an exploration of the Mexican-American/Latine experience.
Puente English Instructors: John Kirwan & Yolanda Santiago Venegas
Counseling
Puente students work closely with their Puente counselors from onboarding until the time they graduate. Puente students take two consecutive counseling classes, Counseling 100 and 105 where they explore career options, develop an academic educational plan, and identify lifetime goals. Additionally, students will attend university tours at both the University of California and California State Universities and attend the annual Puente Transfer Motivational Conference.
Puente Counselors: Magdalena Zepeda & Marisela Sanchez Garzon
Fall 2024 Course Offerings
(1741) COUN 100 TTH 11:00am - 12:15pm Marisela Sanchez Garzon
(1252) ENGL 100 TTH 1:00pm - 2:20pm John Kirwan
(1187) COUN 100 W/ONL 1:00pm - 2:15pm Magdalena Zepeda
(1493) ENGL 100 MW 11:00am - 12:50pm Yolanda Santiago Venegas
Mentors
Each Puente student is matched with a mentor from the business or professional community. Mentors share with students their personal, academic, and career experiences, and provide a window into real-life work environments. The network of trained Puente mentors provides many resources for the Puente students, their families, colleges, and their community.
Study Hall
Puente Study Hall is a weekly opportunity for Puente students and staff/faculty to build and sustain a community of academic support. Students receive personalized mentorship and tailored academic resources to support academic achievement.
Make a Tax-Deductible Charitable Donation
Puente is able to facilitate university campus visits, provide student scholarships, and support an extensive mentor program through donations from community members. You can make a tax-deductible charitable donation to the Puente program by going to the MiraCosta Foundation website and select the Puente Club on the dropdown box under "I want to support".
Professional Development
Puente is one of the Academic Success & Equity (ASE) programs. ASE programs offer professional development workshops and promote a career and life planning course open to all ASE students. These curricular and co-curricular offerings promote and help students make effective decisions regarding their career and life choices, increasing their employability.
For more information on these services and programs contact:
MiraCosta College Puente
mccpuente@miracosta.edu
The Puente Program is a service of the Department of Student Equity. For general inquiries about all Student Equity programs and services, please contact us at studentequity@miracosta.edu or call our main office at 760.208.1784 x6900.
