In this S-STEM project, Loyola Marymount University is building upon its strong infrastructure to support STEM education and achievement by creating a scholarship component within its ACCESS (A Community Committed to Excellence in Scientific Scholarship) Program. Established in 2009, ACCESS has been a summer transition program designed to support incoming freshmen in STEM majors. The ACCESS Scholarship Program expands this effort by providing up to 36 talented students in STEM fields with need-based scholarships for four years. Scholarship recipients are supported to not only obtain a bachelor's degree in a STEM field, but also have adequate preparation and incentive to matriculate into a graduate program. ACCESS students are recruited from low-income communities, and typically are either the first in their families to attend college or from populations underrepresented in the sciences.
The ACCESS Scholarship Program is designed to leverage existing Loyola Marymount resources in a coordinated manner so that scholars receive the financial assistance that they need, coupled with academic support, mentoring and a continuum of professional development opportunities to enrich their educational experience. Delivered in the context of a supportive learning community, and with retention as a primary aim of the program, the ACCESS scholars participate in a three-week residential summer transitional program in order to form a peer-support community before their first semester in college. ACCESS scholars then participate in year-round academic and professional development. Further enriching the retention plan is an extensive support network designed specifically for the ACCESS students and consisting of faculty, staff and students who have pledged to support each of the students within the ACCESS community.
This academic-year and summer support is meant to ensure graduation in four years, equipping scholars with the knowledge and skills needed to pursue a master's or doctoral degree in a technical discipline. When ACCESS program scholars earn graduate degrees in technical fields and become leaders in their respective professions, they will have the opportunity to affect change in STEM fields through their further studies and professional work. The ACCESS Scholarship Program is a vehicle for cultivating technical talent that often goes untapped among groups that comprise an ever-larger percentage of the Nation's population.
