This S-STEM program is addressing the disparity in success among students on the basis of financial need and focusing on students in the departments of Biology and Chemistry. These students already form a naturally-associating group through their shared enrollment in STEM foundation courses and many upper-division classes, their shared participation in STEM student organizations, and their shared experiences in either the interdisciplinary Summer Undergraduate Research Program or the Merck-AAAS-funded Biology and Chemistry Interdisciplinary Connections Research Program. The program is increasing the retention of academically high-achieving and financially-needy students in the STEM majors, and improving the preparation of these students to enter the workforce in STEM careers, or to continue on with post-baccalaureate programs. Each scholarship recipient is assigned a faculty mentor to engage the student in the academic community, to ensure that the student receives the necessary support to succeed in and complete their degree program, and to coordinate the introduction of the student to collaborative research. Scholarship recipients also receive coordinated peer mentoring, peer tutoring, and career development programs, which have been enhanced to improve the success of the scholarship recipients.
