Access to the Science Education of a Four-Year Liberal Arts College for Economically Disadvantaged Students

该学院寻求吸引更多和更多样化的学生加入其科学社区，提高科学的入学率和毕业率，并与马萨索特社区学院合作，发展社区学院的科学转移轨道。该项目要求增加财政援助，以吸引更多未被充分代表的理科专业学生。该项目允许扩大现有的科学人才扩展计划(STEP)赠款，向值得的、经济困难的学生提供科学奖学金，重点是少数族裔。该项目为14名一年级学生提供了14个四年期奖学金，为马萨索特转学项目提供了10个两年期奖学金。这些奖学金平均每年7500美元，具体取决于获奖者的经济需求。学术价值：利用最佳实践促进更多的科学参与，学院正在与贫困地区的高中和Massasoit合作，提供以学生为中心的科学学习方法，并改进科学建议，帮助学生转到四年制本科院校。有了坚实的基础，奖学金计划提供了额外的激励--增加了获得高质量、跨学科和体验式科学教育的机会。更广泛的影响：这个项目是一个模型，展示了私立文理学院如何与社区学院合作，以改善转学机会，并说明高中生如何受益于大学预科教育机会和大学奖学金资助。该项目的更广泛影响是为该地区提供了更多、更多样化的科学劳动力。在科学和生物技术部门特别强大的美国东北部，这两个机构生物、化学、物理、神经科学和生物化学毕业生的数量增加对劳动力发展产生了重大影响。

The college seeks to attract a larger and more diverse student population to its science community, increase enrollment and graduation rates in the sciences, and, in collaboration with Massasoit Community College, grow the community college science transfer track. The program requires increased financial aid in order to attract more underrepresented science majors. The project allows expansion of an existing Science Talent Expansion Program (STEP) grant by offering science scholarships to deserving, financially disadvantaged students with an emphasis on minorities. The project is funding 14 four-year scholarships for first-year students and ten two-year scholarships for Massasoit transfers. These scholarships average $7,500 annually, depending on the recipients' financial needs. Intellectual Merit: Using best practices to promote increased participation in the sciences, the college is working with disadvantaged area high schools and with Massasoit to provide a student-centered approach to science learning and to improve science advising that helps students transfer to four-year undergraduate institutions. With a sound foundation on which to build, the scholarship program provides an additional incentive--increasing access to a high-quality, interdisciplinary and experiential science education. Broader Impact: This project serves as a model illustrating how a private liberal arts college can collaborate with a community college to improve transfer access and illustrating how high school students can benefit from pre-college educational opportunities and college scholarship funding. The broader impact of this project is a larger and more diverse science workforce for the region. In the northeastern United States, where the scientific and biotechnology sectors are particularly strong, increasing the number of biology, chemistry, physics, neuroscience, and biochemistry graduates at the two institutions is having a significant impact on workforce development.