Mathematics and Science Talent Scholarships

美国在STEM领域面临着熟练专业人员的严重短缺，除非这种短缺得到纠正，否则美国将失去在世界经济和科学研究中的卓越地位。此外，美国的人口趋势和对公平的渴望要求更多的STEM专业人员从女性和代表不足的少数族裔中吸引。由于公立和私立学院和大学的成本不断上升，吸引这样有才华的学生很困难。东北大学开发了数学科学人才(MST)奖学金计划，通过向有大量经济需求的学生提供奖学金，增加获得数学、生物或物理学位的学生数量。这项计划的目标是来自波士顿公立学校和大波士顿地区学区的学生，特别是那些参加过东北大学数学和科学外展项目的学生。目标群体非常多样化，但主要是女性，拉美裔和非裔美国学生占这一群体的大多数。这些学生以前在学校和东北大学的外展项目中证明了他们的学术能力和勤奋。MST学者还参加了由NSF赞助的同时进行的非奖学金PRISM项目。PRISM是“科学和数学入门课程的主动招聘”的首字母缩写。因此，从一年级开始，麻省理工学院的学者就有机会与数学、生物和物理领域的杰出教职研究人员合作进行科学研究。MST学者的知名度及其在PRISM项目中的进步有助于鼓励更多未被充分代表的学生在数学和科学方面出类拔萃。

The U.S. faces a critical shortage of skilled professionals in STEM fields, and unless this shortage is corrected, the country will lose a preeminent position in the world economy and in scientific research. Moreover, demographic trends in the U.S. and a desire for equity require that many more STEM professionals be drawn from women and underrepresented minorities. Attracting such talented students is difficult because of the rising cost of public and private colleges and universities. Northeastern University has developed the Mathematics Science Talent (MST) Scholarship Program to increase the number of students receiving degrees in mathematics, biology or physics by offering scholarships to those with large financial need. This program is targeting students from the Boston Public Schools and school districts in the greater Boston region, especially those who have participated in Northeastern's outreach programs in math and science. The target group is very diverse, but largely female, and Hispanic and African-American students make up a majority of the group. These students have previously proven their academic ability and diligence in school and in Northeastern's outreach programs.The MST scholars also participate in the concurrent, non-scholarship NSF-sponsored PRISM program. PRISM is an acronym for "Proactive Recruitment in Introductory Science and Mathematics." Consequently MST scholars have the complementary opportunity to work with outstanding faculty researchers in mathematics, biology and physics on scientific research beginning in the freshman year. The visibility of MST scholars and their progress in the PRISM program serves to encourage more underrepresented students to excel in mathematics and science.