2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Ensuring higher education accessible to all is critical to increasing diversity among those obtaining college degrees and, in turn, going into the workforce. The cost of higher education can be a huge barrier that restricts a portion of the population from attending. Students who come from low-income homes may choose to not attend college due to these financial burdens. These students, who may have been successful otherwise, become limited in their educational and career goals.

The NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) Program provides academically talented, low-income students with financial, academic, and career-focused support. Colleges and Universities develop programs that are customized to their institution using evidence-based curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricular activities. The ultimate objective of S-STEM projects is to increase STEM workforce development by reducing financial burdens and providing them with support to attain their STEM degree.

Louisiana Tech University was awarded an S-STEM grant in the Fall of 2022, which funds a five-year project called the SUCCESS Scholars Program (SSP). Now in its second year, the project has supported two cohorts consisting of forty-six low-income, academically talented students pursuing engineering degrees in one of six engineering programs and one engineering technology program: biomedical engineering, chemical engineering, civil engineering, cyber engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and instrumentation control systems engineering technology.

This paper explores the SSP as it transitioned into its second year, which is characterized by the addition of a second cohort of first-year, first-time engineering students and the expansion of resources for the initial cohort as they progressed into the second year of their curriculum. The focus of this paper is the impact of the SSP on the students’ retention and confidence in their chosen career field which has found to be positively impacted by the SSP.