This project will contribute to the national need for well-educated scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians by supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at Tennessee State University. The University is a Historically Black University with a high population of students who are underrepresented in STEM fields. Over its five-year duration, the project will provide scholarships to 45 unique full-time students who are pursuing a bachelor’s degree in engineering or computer science. Scholars will be admitted in five annual cohorts and receive up to two-and-half years of scholarship support. In addition to providing financial support, the project will support student success through cohort building activities, undergraduate research experiences, undergraduate student support services, summer internships, graduate school preparation, and participation in regional and national STEM conferences. Given the demographics of the student population and the recruiting activities for transfer students from regional community colleges, this project has the potential to broaden participation in the engineering and computer science workforce. Results from this project could inform other higher education institutions about effective student support services that can help students persist in STEM programs and help transfer students from community colleges make a smooth transition to a four-year STEM degree program.
The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. The project intends to help students persist in STEM degree programs and to help transfer students make a successful transition from community college to a four-year degree program by: (1) improving students’ engagement; (2) boosting retention and academic performance; and (3) enhancing student self-efficacy. Assessment and progress monitoring oversight teams will guide Scholar cohorts from entrance to matriculation. The project will create a living and learning community in which the learning model includes mutual academic support, mutual emotional support, social and community support, and industry involvement. Data from and about Scholars will be collected using established survey instruments and institutional records to determine how a student’s support network changes and grows as the student is matriculated, retained, and graduated from the selected STEM programs. By tracking and monitoring students’ academic performance, retention rates, and graduation rates, this project will provide insights on how to ensure student success in engineering and computer science. Project evaluation will use a mixed methods approach to evaluate the impact of the project activities on student success. The project results will be disseminated to the STEM education community through presentations at professional society conferences, publications in STEM education journals, and the project’s web site. 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.
