Founded in 1995, the Architecture Construction Engineering (ACE) Mentor Program of America is a national program designed to stimulate high school students to pursue careers in engineering, architecture and construction. ACE offers an after school program typically lasting two hours for 15 sessions, provides hands-on mentoring, and provides scholarships to students for postsecondary education. In the 2008-2009 school year, ACE involved almost 1,900 industry mentors, and more than 7,700 students completed the program. ACE helps to generate diversity in the design and construction industry through its high rate of underrepresented minority (51%) and female (31%) student participation. Three-quarters (74%) of ACE alumni report that they felt ACE gave them an edge over their peers in college studying architecture, engineering or construction.
