Pathways to Success: A STEM Scholarship Program to Support Community College Students in Rural Communities

About This Grant

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 Marion Technical College (MTC). MTC is a rural two-year community college. Over its five-year duration, this Track 1 S-STEM project will fund scholarships for 65 unique full-time and part-time students pursuing associate degrees in biological or physical sciences, information technology, and mathematical sciences. Students who are accepted into the program will receive a three-year maximum scholarship. The project features a holistic scholarship application and review process to identify 65 academically promising, low-income students pursuing a degree in an eligible STEM discipline to receive scholarships. Once selected as a scholarship recipient, scholars have access to a robust series of activities including a dedicated program advisor, faculty mentors, career readiness and exploration activities, social events, college tours, and non-academic support services to support retention and foster a sense of belonging. The project includes collaboration with the MTC Career Services Department to align students' educational and career goals, provide transfer counseling for students interested in transferring to a four-year program, and a comprehensive plan to track student success after program completion at MTC. This project will increase understanding of how effective support services, scholarships, and activities can increase retention and graduation, leading to transfer, entrance into the STEM workforce, and students' success in rural STEM education. As a result, this project will broaden the participation of rural low-income students in the STEM workforce and contribute to the understanding of best practices in rural STEM education. The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of high-achieving, low-income undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. To meet this goal MTC has developed the following objectives: 1) Recruit 65 financially disadvantaged and academically talented students into the MTC STEM scholarship program; 2) Increase the fall-to-fall retention rate for S-STEM participants to 70%, the graduation rate to 30%, and the transfer rate to 30%; and 3) Achieve a 90% placement rate in four-year programs or entry into the workforce in STEM fields for participants completing the MTC S-STEM program. The project explores the impact of scholarships and support services on the success metrics of low-income rural students in STEM. The project features a comprehensive evaluation plan to assess the effectiveness of the project activities, support institutional capacity building, and ultimately foster greater participation of rural students in the STEM workforce. Project findings will be widely disseminated to inform best practices and contribute to the body of knowledge of rural students in STEM education. This project is funded by NSF's Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program, which seeks to increase the number of academically talented low-income 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.