The Pathways to Academic Excellence (PAcE) program at Southern Connecticut State University is an interdisciplinary project (Mathematics, Computer Science, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Earth Science) that awards full scholarships to 26 students. During the program's first two years, high school seniors are being recruited and then provided, assuming satisfactory progress, with four years of scholarship support. In subsequent years, local community college students will be recruited and then provided with scholarship support until they graduate. Student success is enhanced through early student involvement in faculty-mentored research and internships, by participation in a service learning course, through the formation of cohort groups and learning communities, by careful monitoring of student progress during the students' first year and/or while taking "derailment courses," and through extensive career counseling and placement activities. Focus group participation by PAcE Scholars is an essential program element to remove or minimize roadblocks to student success before the impediment leads to attrition.
