Sustainable Pathways from Community College to Bachelor's Degree for Urban Youth in STEM, Northern New Jersey

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Many academically talented students with demonstrated financial need must work while attending college. This severely limits their participation in activities designed to foster progress in their academic area of interest, which in turn affects academic success and social integration into college that fosters degree attainment. This project, "Sustainable Pathways from Community College to Bachelor's Degree for Urban Youth in STEM, Northern New Jersey," addresses this situation by creating an innovative approach that provides an ecosystem of financial support and opportunities for students from underserved urban populations to transfer from community college to a four-year institution. The project will provide a total of 295 year-long scholarships to at least 135 talented students who: are pursuing degrees in STEM, have demonstrated financial need, and come from underserved urban areas in New Jersey. The project builds on the Garden State Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) project and the Northern New Jersey Bridges to the Baccalaureate project. Scholars who receive scholarship support in this S-STEM project will be invited to participate in the highly successful activities established by these affiliated projects. Scholarships range from $8,000 for students at Rutgers University, Newark to $4,000 for students at the partnering community colleges (Essex County College, Hudson County Community College, and Passaic County Community College). The project's scholars will participate in a new pathway model that is designed to encourage their success, persistence, and transfer from community colleges to 4-year programs; and potentially continuing to graduate school and ultimately to pursuing careers in STEM. Recipients will be randomly selected to receive scholarships and participate in a research study focused on factors influencing their success. These factors include usage of time; self-efficacy, confidence, and aspirations; networking; academic performance; graduation, transfer, and career interest.