2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Researchers at the University of Arkansas have been helping low-income rural and underrepresented students succeed in STEM disciplines. Funded by an NSF S-STEM grant, Closing the STEM Labor Gap through a Path to Graduation (PTG) for Low Income, Rural Students (DUE 1742496), students are provided scholarship funding and retention programming to help remove financial, academic and social barriers to success. At the same time, faculty and staff at the University of Arkansas are learning to better help these students succeed.

In rural and low economic states, the need for STEM graduates is even more dire than the rest of the country. Rural populations are often untapped markets for recruiting STEM students due to the additional cost of recruitment travel to these areas, few role models in the communities, and a lack of familiarity with how to access higher education. Rural high schools often struggle financially and cannot offer the wide variety of educational opportunities that best prepare students for a STEM education, such as AP courses, calculus, physics or statistics. PTG’s recruitment team reaches into these communities to recruit talented rural and underrepresented (URM) students. Once on campus, the students are provided programming help fill the gaps in their knowledge, adjust to a more urban setting, and help to remove barriers to graduating with a STEM degree. PTG recruitment also helps educate teachers, counselors and community members about STEM careers and the benefits of higher education.

Three cohorts of students have been admitted to the PTG program for a total of 38 undergraduate students (58% rural, 68% URM, 40% women). The first cohort graduated in 2021. Entering PTG students must be Pell eligible and have at least a 3.50 high school GPA and composite ACT scores of 23-27 (SAT 1130-1300). These students show academic promise but do not have the higher test scores that typically make them already eligible for large scholarships.

Once on campus, PTG first-year students participate in a credit-bearing residential bridge program to help them adjust to college academics, engage socially, and build cohort. They then live and participate in a living learning community their first year. Students also participate in the Honors College’s Path program which provides peer mentoring, monthly cohort meetings, social engagement, and academic success coaching. In addition, each student has a research active faculty mentor in addition to their faculty academic advisor. The PTG team has helped this pool of students succeed academically in STEM, particularly the second and third cohorts based on retention success, GPAs, and obtaining honors eligibility.

This paper will provide an overview of the PTG program and assessment from the annual survey including longitudinal data on the program’s students and results of the exit survey completed by program graduates. It will also provide lessons learned and strategies implemented related to the non-financial needs of this population both during COVID restrictive times and otherwise.