Thirty-seven academically talented students with financial need are being awarded scholarships of varying lengths. The scholarships are being distributed among several cohorts majoring in Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Information Technology, Mathematics or Physics. Potential awardees are being informed about the scholarship availability through high school visits, university open houses, regional college fairs, science fairs and conferences. Qualified university students are being identified and contacted by e-mail and postal mail. An emphasis is being placed on increasing the diversity of students entering studies in STEM disciplines. Many student support services are being made available to the scholars including peer-tutoring services, faculty mentoring, and opportunities to attend local and regional professional meetings, career counseling, and participation in an internship program with local industry. This project is building on a previous CSEMS scholarship program that raised the retention rate of scholarship recipients to 88 percent, considerably higher than the retention rate of all students majoring in the same disciplines.
