Promoting Pre- and Post-transfer Success in STEM at Hispanic Serving Institutions

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This National Science Foundation (NSF) Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) project is a collaborative effort between California State University San Bernardino (CSUSB) and four community colleges: Barstow College, College of the Desert, Imperial Valley College, and San Bernardino Valley College. Through a transfer collaborative these five Hispanic Serving Institutions/Minority Serving Institutions will work together to provide financial, curricular, and co-curricular support for some of Inland Southern California's lowest-income STEM majors. The program will provide scholarships to community college and transfer students who are pursuing degrees in biology, chemistry, biochemistry, computer science, engineering, geology, mathematics or physics. In addition to scholarships, the program will provide academic and other support to increase the persistence of these academically talented, low-income students. The co-curricular support on each campus builds on existing programs and is informed by an understanding of factors that contribute most to student success. Support activities include mentoring prior to transfer, learning cohorts, and research activities at CSUSB. Scholarships and support for low-income and academically talented students, who may not otherwise be able to obtain engineering or computer science degrees, will help to produce a well-trained workforce that will contribute to the economic well being of the nation.In addition to promoting success of talented low-income students, the project will advance understanding about the factors and activities associated with improvements in retention, transfer, and degree attainment. The student support mechanisms proposed on each participating campus, and the coordination between institutions provide a unique model for helping students from a highly disadvantaged population to earn degrees in STEM. The current understanding of factors contributing to transfer student success is limited, particularly for programs serving larger numbers of Hispanic students. Similarly, more information is needed about ways to ensure student success between transfer and graduation. The project will study successful trends in transfer and graduation rates, and uncover what aspects of the program are most successful in this Hispanic Serving Institution environment. Results from this project can contribute to the body of knowledge about what factors most influence success for these talented low-income students. The findings from the program will be disseminated widely to help other institutions to maximize the success of transfer students in STEM fields.