Activities in this project are combined with existing programs at Purdue University to develop a Minority Engineering Comprehensive Career Academy (MECCA) for Black American, Mexican American, Puerto Rican and American Indian students. The new activities are directed toward two "missing links" in the total Program--an Elementary School Out-Reach Program and an Undergraduate Engineering Retention Program. The Elementary School Out-Reach Program is aimed at students, their parents, teachers, alumni, community leaders, industry groups and consortiums located in geographic areas surrounding the target participants. The Undergraduate Retention Program actively involves minority students enrolled in the Purdue Schools of Engineering by adding structured courses to the sophomore and junior year. These will focus on professional school engineering core courses designed to aid the student in making a successful transition from the generic freshman engineering curriculum to the first level of engineering courses specific to their major.
