Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** the U.S. Is faced with two pressing…

Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** the U.S. Is faced with two pressing problems at the higher education level: 1) an ethnic disparity amongst degree recipients and 2) a deficit in the number of degree recipients from science and engineering fields to fill open positions in the agricultural workforce. These problems are ongoing and must be addressed through the development and integration of innovative approaches by institutes of higher education. Specifically, these innovative approaches should target underrepresented students (e.g., minorities, first generation). Institutions that are classified as hispanic or minority serving institutions, meaning a certain percentage of their student base are ethnic minorities, are especially critical in deploying these education approaches and promoting success of underrepresented students. Our program, steam-aged, attracts and supports underrepresented students to prepare them for academic or professional science, technology, engineering, agricultural, or mathematics (steam) careers with USDA or similar employers. This is achieved through three activities involving secondary, undergraduate, and graduate students: 1) developing updated curriculum for training of and delivery by pre-service agricultural education students; 2) developing a formalized mentoring and teaching structure that involves experiential opportunities and emphasizes scientific inquiry; and 3) providing financial awards to students involved in steam-aged. We will evaluate the impact of these activities on those involved in the program to ensure objectives are met and student outcomes are positive. After evaluation, we will publish our data via outlets relevant to the academic community to promote adoption of the steam-aged model by other institutes of higher education. Ultimately, these activities enhance the ability of texas state university, the only four-year hispanic serving institution in central texas that grants degrees in agricultural sciences, and other higher institutes to recruit, retain, and graduate underrepresented students. Deployment of the steam-aged model on a wide scale, thus, could address the above outlined national education problems, promoting degree attainment by ethnic minorities and providing the agricultural workforce with employees trained in steam competencies.