The Building Engineers and Supporting Talented Scholars (BESTS) project is increasing the retention to graduation of low-income, underrepresented upper-division students in the UCLA Center for Excellence in Engineering and Diversity; increasing the number of low-income, community college transfer students who transfer into engineering and computing at UCLA; and increasing the numbers of students who are prepared for and accepted into advanced studies. By the end of the project, approximately 90 economically disadvantaged, engineering and computer science students are expected to be positively impacted.
The project is integrating teaching, learning and training by involving the NSF, DOD and NASA research faculty and graduate students in mentoring the BESTS scholars joining their research centers during the summer. The project is focusing on broadening the participation, retention and performance of low income students entering from community colleges via the BESTS support services and community. The project is building on partnerships formed during a previous CSEMS project.
