The Bronx Opportunity Network (BON) is a collaborative effort among a group of seven CBOs serving young adults in the South Bronx, which, in partnership with Bronx and Hostos Community Colleges, has developed a borough-based initiative to increase college access—and to support post-secondary retention—among disconnected young adults. The Network’s mission is to enable under-prepared Bronx students to improve their academic skills, overcome personal barriers, and enroll in and complete college. While the BON is composed of agencies throughout the Bronx, there is a concentration of agencies located in Community Boards 1 & 2 and it is anticipated that the highest levels of disconnected youth will come from those areas.

This brief describes the history, structure and approaches of the BON initiative, and provides results from the first year of the program in which over 100 young adults participated, and 76 young adults successfully completed their first year of college.