This project is awarding fifty scholarships over a four-year period to academically talented, financially disadvantaged students who are pursuing a two-year degree in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The project's intellectual merit lies in its focus on enabling the scholarship recipients to persist through completion of their Associate's degree and transfer to a four-year institution. Each scholar works with a faculty advisor/mentor to develop an individualized success plan. The scholarship amounts are tailored to allow recipients to reduce either their loan package and/or work hours so as to pursue a full course load in a rigorous curriculum. Specific support services and enrichment activities are intended to increase academic success and contribute to the formation of a cohort community. These include a first-year college orientation course, study skills, and internship experiences in local and regional industries contribute to increase the opportunity for the scholarship recipients to pursue careers in STEM fields. The broader impacts of the project are felt through its emphasis on achieving higher retention and transfer rates, by making it possible for academically talented students to enroll full-time and work fewer hours. The project is also striving to attract students who have traditionally been underrepresented in their participation in STEM disciplines.
