NSF Award
2322505
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 Montana State University-Bozeman, Montana State University-Billings, University of Montana, Montana Technological University, and Salish Kootenai College. Over its one-year duration, this collaborative project will develop a collaborative network, plan, and build the infrastructure that will form the basis for a Track-3 S-STEM proposal to fund scholarships for full-time students pursuing graduate degrees in engineering and physical, mathematical, biological, environmental, and psychological sciences across Montana. In partnership with the Montana High Tech Business Alliance and other state-wide employer organizations, new master's students will receive scholarships for the first three semesters of their studies in addition to employment in growing sectors of the state’s STEM industry. Students will be employed full-time in the summer and part-time during the academic year. Student focus groups, meetings with business leaders, and listening sessions with tribal communities will develop shared understandings of strengths and challenges that low-income students face, enhance relationships, and ultimately inform a plan design grounded in reciprocal benefits between low-income students (including indigenous students), rural and reservation communities, and regional economies.<br/><br/>The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving graduates with demonstrated financial need. Low-income students face many barriers to graduate education, including insufficient finances, concerns about student debt, pressure to work full-time, and limited knowledge of the “hidden curriculum” of graduate school. Students in rural regions far from educational or industry hubs may be further reluctant to move away from their families and communities to pursue STEM higher education and careers. This loss of talent adversely impacts STEM industries due to the considerable strengths that low-income, high-achieving students could otherwise bring to these sectors. To fill this gap, this project will explore how innovative partnerships between private high-tech industry and master’s-level STEM degree programs can simultaneously help low-income students in rural contexts achieve their full potential and meet critical workforce needs. By engaging institutions across the state, students may need to move only short distances between their undergraduate and graduate schools and can remain close to their communities while benefitting from financial resources, social capital, and help navigating complex institutional processes. This project is funded by NSF’s Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program, which seeks to increase the number of low-income academically talented 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.<br/><br/>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.
