Federal Project Grant Award Summary

The National Science Foundation's Division of Undergraduate Education awarded $750,000 in project grant funding on March 15, 2026, through the STEM Education program (CFDA 47.076) to support a collaborative, five-year initiative aimed at increasing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) degree completion among low-income, academically talented undergraduate students. The project, led by Rowan Cabarrus Community College in collaboration with the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Cleveland Community College, Gaston College, and South Piedmont Community College, will provide scholarships of up to $15,000 annually to at least 120 scholars pursuing Associate in Science or Bachelor's degrees in biology, data science, or computer science. The scholarship awards are supplemented by comprehensive student support services including faculty mentoring, tutoring, success coaching, and focused career development.

Beyond financial aid, the project delivers integrated academic and co-curricular services designed to build scholar cohorts and enhance retention outcomes. These include shared course offerings, undergraduate research opportunities, and service-learning activities that foster academic and social integration. An independent evaluator will assess project effectiveness, with particular focus on developing scholars' transfer capital and science capital—knowledge and resources that facilitate persistence in STEM fields and successful transition pathways. The research component will generate evidence-based findings on effective strategies for supporting talented, low-income STEM students, contributing to the national knowledge base while directly addressing workforce development needs in critical STEM sectors through June 2031.