Scholars of Excellence in Engineering Design

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 Texas State University. Texas State University is a Hispanic Serving Institution, and its campus in San Marcos, Texas, is at the center of a rapidly growing innovation corridor that extends from Austin to San Antonio.

Over its six-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to thirty-eight unique full-time students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in one of the following engineering majors: Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, or Mechanical Engineering. First-time-in-college students will receive up to four years of scholarship.

In addition, the project will include activities that engage students early and often in cohort building, engineering identity formation, the development of important professional skills, and exposure to the engineering profession. In particular, the project will include training for faculty mentors, individualized student mentoring that starts before students arrive on campus, cohort-based professional learning communities that allow students to support each other, and a sequence of workshops focusing on the product design and development process, cooperative education experiences in industry, and undergraduate research opportunities.

If the proposed approach is successful, it could be useful for STEM programs at academic institutions that want to support low-income students with demonstrated financial need during their undergraduate education. Given the demographics of the students served by Texas State University, success in retaining and graduating engineering students could translate into increased diversity in regional and national engineering career fields, which ultimately builds the broader society’s capacity to solve today’s most complex design and systems problems in ways that are equitable and sustainable.

The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. When these talented students enroll in engineering programs, they often feel they do not “belong” in engineering because of their financial situation, their math and science preparation, the absence of family support or mentoring, and the lack of engineering role models who share their cultural backgrounds.

The project will use a comprehensive system of supports aimed at fully integrating, centering, and motivating these students to help them achieve their academic potential, foster their sense of belonging to the engineering profession, and develop professional skills. A sequence of product design and development workshops and the possibility to participate in cooperative education experiences in industry will allow students to connect what they are learning in their courses with the practical aspects of the engineering profession.

The latter is expected to increase their motivation and persistence to degree completion. Opportunities to participate in research experiences will allow students to consider the possibility of pursuing graduate studies after obtaining their bachelor’s degree. The effectiveness of the project will be evaluated by tracking the scholarship recipients’ academic performance, retention rate, and graduation rate.

In addition, surveys will be used to determine the impact of project activities in increasing student sense of belonging to the engineering profession, self-efficacy in engineering design, and professional skill development. An external evaluator will conduct periodic project assessments and provide feedback and suggestions for improvement. Project results will be disseminated via peer-reviewed articles and conference presentations.

In addition, project information and results will be presented to the Industrial Advisory Boards of each of the engineering programs involved and will be made available upon request to interested STEM faculty members via Texas State University’s Digital Collections Repository. 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.

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.