Clarkson University's "ASPIRE: Academic Success Program to Improve Retention and Education," seeks to: 1) increase the number of women and minority students completing degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) majors, 2) prepare these students for professional careers, and 3) place these students in STEM-related positions upon graduation. This is being accomplished through an integrated program of financial aid, academic success programming, professional development activities and individual faculty mentoring. In the case of an earlier award, 91% of the ASPIRE students are found to be successfully completing their undergraduate degrees in STEM majors. Clarkson historically places over 90% of its graduates in industry, military or graduate school positions, and with the first set of ASPIRE students it is expected to see a similar or higher rate of placement upon graduation.
The ASPIRE program is funding four years of college for 68 academically talented, financially needy, urban minority and rural students. Seventeen students matriculate into ASPIRE each year; each student receiving a $7084 NSF S-STEM scholarship for his/her first year of study, with Clarkson funding the last three years for each continuing student. The program serves women and minority students who are chronically underrepresented in STEM fields, thus serving to increase the breadth and depth of talent in STEM disciplines and addressing a recognized national need to substantially increase the number of American scientists and engineers. Additionally, increasing the number of women and minority students on Clarkson's small, rural campus exposes all students to diverse cultures and perspectives to better prepare all students to compete in the global workplace.
The evaluation and assessment portion of the ASPIRE program helps determine those program components and student attributes that have led to the program's remarkably high retention rate for the S-STEM scholars. These findings are being communicated to other institutions (via conferences and journal publications) to enable others to replicate Clarkson's successes.
