Southern Illinois Energy Scholarships

Southern Illinois University At Carbondale, Carbondale IL

Investigators

Abstract

The Southern Illinois Energy Scholarships program at Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC) will matriculate talented community college students with demonstrated financial need to SIUC who will major in one of nine energy-related STEM disciplines. The goal of the project will be to provide the infrastructure and experiences necessary for scholars to complete a baccalaureate degree and enter the energy workforce or a STEM graduate program. Scholars will engage in hands-on activities led by faculty and work-force professionals. The project will increase the number of students entering the energy workforce, which has been identified as one of the areas critical to the economic development of the state. To identify what strategies and activities are successful in helping low income community college transfer students succeed, the research team will identify a transfer student peer group from within STEM disciplines representative of race/ethnicity, gender, related program of study, and prior academic attainment. The investigators will longitudinally follow both the Energy Scholars and the peer comparison group semester-by-semester collecting hours attempted, hours earned, course performance, grade point average, retention and graduation indicators. The team will measure and compare academic attainment, retention and graduation across the Energy Scholars and the peer comparison group.