Recruiting, Retaining, and Supporting Two Year College Students: An Engineering Scholarship Program

Itasca Community College, Grand Rapids MN

Investigators

Abstract

Engineering - Other (59) Itasca Community College has the fifth largest engineering program in Minnesota and serves an area that, by any measure, is far below the economic average of the rest of the state. This service area is also under-educated in terms of the number of households holding one or more college degrees when compared to the rest of Minnesota. Over 70% of entering Freshmen at the college qualify for PELL grant financial aid, and over 80% of entering Freshmen hold jobs of 20-30 hours per week in order to pay for college and living expenses. Also in the service area is a Native American population virtually unserved by any educational agency that stresses technology or engineering careers. Although recruiting and summer initiatives already make sustained contact with these groups of students, to a student from a first generation college home, to a female student with little peer support for engineering, or to an Anishanabe student with little or no family contact with engineering, these efforts have not proven sufficient to enable degree completion. Through this project NSF funding is providing an escalating system of financial support for both entering and second year students in order to bring the career of engineering to the student groups mentioned above. We expect to demonstrate that scholarships aimed at capable students among these groups can serve to overcome low peer and family expectations for engineering career access. Based on this experience and a strong educational research and assessment program, we seek to redirect college foundation funds and tribal funds towards continued scholarship support of these groups in engineering.