Advancing stem excellence through engagement, research, and scholarships

The National Science Foundation awarded Whatcom Community College $1.918 million on October 1, 2025, under the Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program to support STEM student retention and graduation through scholarships, mentoring, and research opportunities.

The project will distribute scholarships averaging $12,151 for up to three years to 78 high-achieving, low-income students pursuing AS-transfer degrees in biology, chemistry, geology, computer science, engineering, or physics. Scholars will receive faculty and peer mentoring, participate in community-building activities including field trips, speaker series, and study groups, and access summer undergraduate research opportunities and local scientific conference participation. An independent evaluator will collect formative and summative data to document effective strategies for supporting low-income STEM students.

Performance occurs in Bellingham, Washington, with a period extending from October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2031. This is a Track 2 project grant.

Abstract

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 whatcom community college. A total of 78 scholars pursuing an as-transfer degree in biology, chemistry, geology, computer science, engineering, or physics will receive scholarships averaging $12,151 for up to three years. Scholars will receive faculty and peer mentoring and the project will build strong scholar cohorts through community building activities such as field trips, speaker series and study groups. Additional activities for scholars include summer undergraduate research opportunities and participation in local scientific conferences. The overall goal of this track 2 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 biology, chemistry, geology, computer science, engineering, physics and other key areas of need. The project will be assessed by an experienced evaluator that will collect both formative and summative data, 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.- subawards are not planned for this award.