Enhancing West Virginia STEM Competitiveness with Scholarships and Student Support

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 Blue Ridge Community and Technical College. A total of 80 scholars pursuing Associate of Applied Science degrees in Computer Technology, Engineering Technology, and Laboratory Technology will receive scholarships averaging $6,000 for up to two years. Scholars will receive faculty and peer mentoring and the project will build strong scholar cohorts through a structured mentoring program. Additional activities for scholars include dedicated advising, internship programs in partnership with regional industries, and career support. The overall goal of this Track 1 Scholarships in STEM project is to increase STEM degree completion of academically talented, low-income undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. There is a significant national need to grow the STEM workforce and nurture key talent that will ensure economic competitiveness and provide domestic leadership across critical sectors. This project directly speaks to this need by supporting STEM student success, which will strengthen the workforce in engineering technology, laboratory sciences, and computer and information technology and other key areas of need. The project will be assessed by an experienced evaluator that will collect institutional data related to student outcomes, administer student surveys and conduct focus groups with students, and the data generated will contribute to the knowledge base regarding effective strategies to support talented, low-income students in STEM. 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. NSF Award ID: 2527097 | Program: 1300PYXXDB H-1B FUND, EDU, NSF | Principal Investigator: Janet Branch | Institution: Blue Ridge Community & Technical College, MARTINSBURG, WV | Award Amount: $1,998,309 View on NSF Award Search: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/show-award/?AWD_ID=2527097 View on Research.gov: https://www.research.gov/awardapi-service/v1/awards/2527097.html