The AGEP Pilot Impact Study

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This is a Small Grant for Exploratory Research (SGER) from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to support a pilot study of the impact of NSF's Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) program. Each AGEP Alliance consists of two or more STEM-related doctorate-granting institutions and may also include non-doctorate-granting (often minority-serving) institutions. Since 1998, the program has provided approximately $2.5 million to each of over 20 Alliances involving almost 150 colleges and universities. Each Alliance works both within and across participating colleges and universities and other Alliances. In addition, Alliances are encouraged to align with other existing programs that are designed to foster minority students' completion of degrees in STEM disciplines (e.g., the Louis-Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation), whether or not these programs are NSF-funded. Within a four-month timeframe, the proposed study will develop a national AGEP program evaluation design, specify sampling and comparison group development, design data-collection tools and test the evaluation methodology at two AGEP projects. With supplemental information from a third AGEP reported on last year, information on the efficacy of the design, the data collection instruments and preliminary outcome data will be reported by October 2007. The information obtained, particularly with respect to the availability of data on program graduates, will inform the design of a national evaluation.