2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This paper reports on the culmination of an NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S-STEM) awarded to a two-year college located in a metro area with high rates of concentrated poverty and low levels of educational attainment. This two-year college is a minority-serving institution with curriculum to prepare students majoring in engineering to transfer and complete a baccalaureate degree at a four-year university. The Engineering Scholars Program (ESP) was established in fall 2019 to award students majoring in engineering annual scholarships of up to $6000, depending on financial need. In addition to supporting students through scholarships, the program engages scholars in professional development activities inclusive of academic seminars, extracurricular events, and undergraduate research opportunities in collaboration with the local four-year university. The program also established a mentorship structure with faculty mentors, student peer mentors, and academic advising. In addition to supporting scholars at the two-year college, the ESP provides support for a portion of cohorts that have transferred to the local four-year university and remained connected to the program. To date, the ESP has awarded a total of 131 semester long scholarships; 16 in year one (2019-2020), 28 in year two (2020-2021), 35 in year three (2021-2022), including six transfers, 38 in year four (2022-2023), including eight transfers, and currently, for fall 2023, year five of the program, 14 students are supported, including 5 transfers. In year three, the ESP was awarded supplemental funding to support a larger portion of students and transfer cohorts; this helped reduce the financial burdens resulting from exacerbated financial needs due to the COVID-19 pandemic during years two and three of this project. This paper details the progress made towards the achievement of the program goals of creating a welcoming STEM climate at the two-year college, increasing the participation and persistence in engineering among economically disadvantaged students, and establishing transfer support to the local four-year university. Program evaluation findings have identified several opportunities for sustaining scholar transfer support outside of the financial support provided in the form of scholarships. These opportunities fell into two major themes: (1) peer-led transfer support inclusive of connecting transferred students and students preparing for transfer with emphasis on navigating different university structures, and (2) collaboration across engineering disciplines to develop and offer interdisciplinary undergraduate research and/or collaborative work on other projects. Furthermore, research findings from interviews with scholars provided additional context for taking action on program outcomes while also enhancing the understanding of how participation in a collaborative cohort experience can contribute to students’ membership within the STEM community and the construction of their own STEM identity. Although formal financial support sunsets during the final year of the ESP, program and research findings have identified programmatic elements that provide key support for students and can be sustained into the future. This paper reports on the program strategy for meeting the future needs of scholars at both the two-year college and the four-year transfer university.