This project will contribute to the national need for engineers by supporting high-achieving, low-income undergraduate engineering students at Florida Agriculture and Mechanical University. Over its five-year duration, this project will provide scholarships to 40 students. Sophomores will receive three-year scholarships and Juniors will receive two-year scholarships. The Scholars will pursue bachelor's degrees in biomedical, chemical, civil, computer, electrical, industrial, or mechanical engineering. The project plans to help the Scholars persist in their engineering program of study, all the way to graduation. It plans to do so by providing students with scholarships and academic support, as well as professional development activities. These activities include experiences in industry, entrepreneurship, community engagement, and multi-year research projects. Florida Agriculture and Mechanical University is a large, public Historically Black University. It has a high percentage of students from populations that are underrepresented in engineering. As a result, this project has the potential to broaden participation in engineering fields and to help to prepare a globally competitive, diverse engineering workforce.
The overall goal of the project is to increase degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates in engineering fields. The specific objectives of this project are to: (1) have at least 80% of the Scholars successfully complete the pre-engineering program; (2) achieve an engineering graduation rate of at least 80% for the Scholars who successfully complete the pre-engineering program; (3) achieve a mean GPA for Scholars that is at least 0.3 points higher than their engineering peers; and (4) equip students with professional and technical skills that will enable them to be successful in STEM careers and/or STEM graduate programs. The project includes a research study to investigate whether implementing flexible options for continued student engagement through the summer after their first year of study helps students persist through their second year of study. Building on the Theory of Planned Behavior, this project will investigate the questions: How do Scholar’s post-graduation plans evolve from entry through graduation? Is there a notable change at the point of completing the pre-engineering program? How well do intentions predict post-graduation pursuits? Further, the project will investigate which program elements correlate best with successful student outcomes and differences that might exist depending on student demographics and/or first-year experience. Formative and summative process and outcome evaluations will be conducted using primary data collected from interactions with the project team, student surveys, and data from institutional records. Results of this project will be made available in scholarly publications, presentations, social media, and university communication channels. This project is funded by NSF's Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program, which seeks to increase the number of low-income academically talented students with demonstrated financial need who earn degrees in STEM fields. It also aims to improve the education of future STEM workers, and to generate knowledge about academic success, retention, transfer, graduation, and academic/career pathways of low-income students.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
