Bridge to Batten

Program Overview

Talent is everywhere, but opportunity can be harder to find. Bridge to Batten opens UVA Batten’s doors to promising first-year students from limited-income backgrounds who aspire to become leaders ready to make change in their communities and beyond.

Rooted in the University’s commitment to developing the full potential of talented students from all walks of life, Bridge to Batten gives you the connections, guidance and community to see yourself in the policy world and find your place in it.

The program has three parts: a spring seminar to help explore how your own experiences connect to the policy questions shaping communities, the Commonwealth and the world; access to wider UVA resources to deepen those connections and expand what’s possible; and mentorship and community through a team of peer mentors, current UVA Batten students who know the path and are invested in your success.

In addition, selected participants will receive exclusive access to workshops and programming throughout the Spring 2027 semester and will receive preferential placement in the Fall 2027 offering of LPPP 2200: Introduction to Public Policy, a prerequisite for the Bachelor of Arts program. Bridge to Batten students will continue to receive individualized advising through their second year as they prepare for application into one of Batten’s programs.