Scholarships for STEM Majors

Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station, College Station TX

Investigators

Abstract

The Panhandle Pipeline (P2) project is designed to recruit, retain, and improve the performance of students obtaining science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degrees. The objectives of the project are to: 1. Provide scholarships to least 20 students per year and at least 60 overall who are majoring in STEM fields, with an emphasis on underrepresented students. Students come from three groups: financially-needy recent high school graduates, adult students, and undeclared college students who exhibit academic promise in STEM programs. 2. Coordinate and integrate resources to increase academic success and graduate with an associate degree at least 65% of the scholarship students in STEM majors. 3. Partner with West Texas A&M University (WTAMU) to facilitate a seamless transfer for STEM majors. Intellectual Merit: The goals are to improve the performance of STEM students enrolled at the college; increase the quantity, quality, and diversity of STEM students obtaining associate degrees; and promoting transfer to a four-year university. The college is partnering in this project with the NSF-funded WTAMU S-STEM Community College Transfer for STEM Success program, which provides scholarships to community college transfer students in STEM disciplines and thus creates a seamless pathway to a four-year degree. Broader Impacts: The college is an Hispanic Serving Institution with an enrollment of over 11,000 students, 28% of whom are Hispanic. P2 is increasing the quantity and quality of STEM graduates by providing scholarships and academic enhancement activities. Since most of the graduates from the college enter the regional workforce or transfer to WTAMU, increasing the STEM abilities of students is having a great impact on increasing the capacity of the STEM workforce in the region.