A mix of financially needy community college transfer students and beginning graduate students including those in the Northeast Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate majoring in Computer Science, Computer Systems and Chemical, Civil, Electrical, Industrial and Mechanical Engineering are receiving annual scholarships of $8,000. A total of twenty two students, approximately eighteen of whom are undergraduates receive support for two years while three or four graduate students receive one year support with the possibility of a second year. In many cases, the graduate students are those who need some additional studies beyond those taken as an undergraduate to qualify for full acceptance into a graduate program. The project builds on previous CSEMS and S-STEM awards.
The NSF S-STEM Program provides scholarships and a program of academic and personal support for academically talented students demonstrating financial need, enabling them to enter the STEM workforce or STEM graduate school following completion of an associate, baccalaureate, or graduate-level degree in science, technology, engineering or mathematics disciplines. The University of Massachusetts College of Engineering and School of Computer Science received a three-year S-STEM award in 2010. The award focused on the recruitment, retention and graduation of undergraduate and graduate engineering and computer science majors who were known as S-STEM Scholars. The undergraduates were selected as transfer students from community colleges who entered UMass Amherst to earn a B.S. degree in any of the six engineering majors or computer science. The program also supported several graduate students who were former community college students, former S-STEM Scholars or students who are underrepresented in engineering and computer science. As S-STEM Scholars, students received scholarships, specialized advising and access to opportunities such as undergraduate research and conference travel. Students consistently reported that the S-STEM Program allowed them to focus on their academics and enabled them to achieve a 4 year or graduate degree. One S-STEM Scholar reported "I would not have pursued or completed this degree without this scholarship". Another said, "As I’ve always said, I have done college on my own and the ability to attend school without the stress of working at the same time has made a huge difference". At the conclusion of the grant, 85% of the S-STEM Scholars had either graduated or were completing their degree (a significantly greater retention rate). As intended, the S-STEM Program successfully added 33 students to the STEM pipeline. Employers such as the Dow Chemical Company, EMC, Tripadvisor, IBM, Verizon, Henshaw Drilling, Anheuser-Busch and others have hired these talented students upon their graduation. Five S-STEM Scholars are currently pursuing graduate study leading to either Masters or Ph.D. degrees.
