2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

At Louisiana Tech University, two cohorts of low-income students are being supported through an NSF S-STEM project called the SUCCESS Scholars Program (SSP). The program is strategically designed to support students financially, academically, and socially while also providing opportunities for professional and career development. Cohort 1 and Cohort 2 entered the program as first-year students in Fall 2022 and Fall 2023, respectively. The student population represents a range of disciplines, including biomedical, chemical, civil, cyber, electrical, industrial, and mechanical engineering, as well as construction engineering technology and instrumentation and controls engineering technology.

End-of-year surveys are administered to collect valuable data on the impact of the SSP. These surveys are intentionally aligned with the project’s defined outcomes. This paper draws from the first three years of survey responses to examine the program’s impact on Indirect Outcome 2: “Increased Confidence in Academic Ability.” The presented results provide a snapshot of student confidence in academic ability and potential factors influencing that confidence as they progress through the middle years of their studies. This analysis was framed using the Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) using responses from Likert-scale questions addressing confidence in academic ability, motivation to continue pursuing their STEM degree, and feelings of community within the the SSP. Results indicated overall positive experiences and perspectives from the SSP students. Using an ordinal path analysis framed by SCCT, statistical significance was found on the SCCT pathways assessed. This research informs best practices, providing deeper insight into how students perceive their growth, challenges, and sources of support within the program.