"Reclaiming the American Dream" A Scholarship Program for Community College Transfer Students in Biology

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This project provides scholarships to 30 students to obtain baccalaureate degrees in biology at the University of Miami following transfer from Miami Dade College. It builds on an established and successful transfer program between a community college and a research university and ensures that academically talented scholars have financial and other support to persist and excel in regionally and nationally important STEM fields. In addition to scholarships, students are being supported comprehensively through seminars and professional-development workshops, faculty advising, peer mentoring, research and conference opportunities, and parental/family outreach. The intellectual merit of this project lies in the well-planned activities and strong collaborative relationship between the partnering institutions. The broader impact lies in promoting STEM degree attainment by high-ability, financially needy students, many first in family to attend college and/or from underrepresented minorities. The project is also serving as a model for other institutions in achieving transformation, not only for the individual students, but in integrating an undertapped pool of talent into the broader scientific and economic enterprise.