Closing Gaps and Driving Achievement: Intentional, Applied Academic Pathway Supports to Advance Success in STEM Career Development

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This project will contribute to the national need for well-educated scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians by supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at Lorain County Community College. Over its six-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to 60 unique full and part-time students pursuing associate degrees in Cyber and Information Security and Micro-Electrical Mechanical Systems. The program is designed to enhance the persistence and completion of academically qualified low-income students. Throughout the grant period, new and transferring students will be able to receive up to 3 years of scholarship support. Specific project activities include academic advising, cohort-based activities, engagement in career-focused networking events, and experiential credit-bearing learning opportunities. The project will measure the efficacy of these practices and identify areas for improvement to positively impact completion rates for talented students in STEM career pathways.The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. The project hopes to achieve a retention rate for project participants of 80 percent; a two-year graduation or transfer rate of 75 percent; and improve persistence and completion rates in Cyber and Information Security and Micro-Electrical Mechanical Systems programs. Achieving these objectives will enrich the STEM workforce with students who can contribute to the American innovation economy. The project team at Lorain County Community College hypothesizes that aggregated and equitable support resources will have a statistically significant impact on degree attainment and job placement. Project evaluation will address several questions relevant to the STEM education community, including the extent to which comprehensive mentoring programs impact student recruitment into STEM pathways; how and to what extent cohorts ensure retention and completion; and how similar programs can enhance work-based and experiential learning experiences. Accumulated data will help identify best practices of the project, which can then be shared with the broader community for replication. The project team plans dissemination activities through multiple channels and partnerships, including networks such as the American Association of Community Colleges, Society of Women Engineers, Ohio Manufacturers' Association, Ohio TechNet, and multiple active partners in the Manufacturing USA network. This project is funded by NSF's Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program, which seeks to increase the number of low-income academically talented students with demonstrated financial need who earn degrees in STEM fields. It also aims to improve the education of future STEM workers and to generate knowledge about academic success, retention, transfer, graduation, and academic/career pathways of low-income students.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.