Providing Aid to Support STEM Success for Talented, Low-Income Students

该项目将通过支持加州州立大学贝克斯菲尔德分校（CSUB）表现出经济需求的高成就低收入学生的保留和毕业，为满足全国对受过良好教育的科学家、数学家、工程师和技术人员的需求做出贡献。CSUB同时被指定为少数民族服务机构和西班牙裔服务机构。该项目为期6年，每年将为54名攻读生物学、生物化学、化学、计算机工程、计算机科学、电气工程、工程、工程科学、地质学、数学和/或物理学学士学位的全日制学生提供高达15,000美元的奖学金。低年级学生将获得最多五年的奖学金，高年级学生将获得最多三年的奖学金。该项目旨在提高留校率和坚持率，提高毕业率，并支持学生的成功。对学者的支持包括指导、职业发展活动、实习机会、本科生研究机会、研究生院准备、网络活动、学术成功研讨会、心理健康和保健。CSUB为学术参与度低、贫困率高的社区提供服务，因此该项目有可能扩大STEM领域的参与。该项目将进一步推进CSUB提供高质量和有影响力的学位课程的使命，为学者在获得学位后从事STEM职业或研究生学习奠定基础。该项目的总体目标是提高有经济需求的低收入、高成就本科生的STEM学位完成率。这个项目有两个具体的目标。目标1：提高资助学生的留校率和坚持率，消除低收入家庭学生的成绩差距。目标2：提高学者的毕业率，并促进他们毕业后进入STEM职业或STEM研究生课程。该项目将根据每位学者的学术进步、对学者的调查和访谈以及教师导师的反馈，使用基于结果的问责制来评估。该项目有可能促进对STEM本科生的保留、成功、指导和丰富模式的理解，项目成果将通过CSUB的项目网站、会议演讲和期刊文章广泛传播。该项目由美国国家科学基金会的科学、技术、工程和数学奖学金项目资助，旨在增加有经济需求的低收入学术天才学生在STEM领域获得学位的人数。它还旨在改善未来STEM工作者的教育，并为低收入学生提供有关学业成功、留校、转学、毕业和学术/职业道路的知识。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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 California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB). CSUB carries designations as both a Minority-Serving Institution and Hispanic-Serving Institution. Over its 6-year duration, this project will fund scholarships of up to $15,000 per year to 54 unique full-time students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in biology, biochemistry, chemistry, computer engineering, computer science, electrical engineering, engineering, engineering sciences, geology, mathematics, and/or physics. Lower-division students will receive up to five years of scholarships and upper-division students will receive up to three years of scholarships. This project aims to improve retention and persistence rates, improve graduation rates, and support student success. Supports for scholars include mentoring, career development activities, internship opportunities, undergraduate research opportunities, graduate school preparation, networking events, and workshops on academic success, and mental health and wellness. CSUB serves communities with low academic engagement and high poverty rates, so this project has the potential to broaden participation in STEM fields. This project will further CSUB’s mission of providing high-quality and impactful degree programs, laying the foundation for scholars to engage in STEM careers or graduate school after they obtain their degree.The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. There are two specific goals for the project. Goal 1: Increase the retention and persistence rates of supported scholars and eliminate achievement gaps for low-income students. Goal 2: Increase scholars' graduation rates and facilitate their post-graduation entry into either STEM careers or a STEM graduate program. The project will be evaluated using result-based accountability based on each scholar’s academic progress, surveys and interviews with scholars, and feedback from the faculty mentors. This project has the potential to advance understanding of models for retention, success, mentorship, and enrichment of STEM undergraduate students and project outcomes will be widely disseminated through a project website at CSUB, conference presentations, and journal articles. 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.