Expanding integrated early stem career exploration to support informed college and career pathway choice in a rural setting

The National Science Foundation Division of Undergraduate Education awarded Cuesta College $365,000 on October 15, 2026, through the STEM Education program (CFDA 47.076) to expand integrated early STEM career exploration in a rural setting. Performance extends through September 30, 2029, at San Luis Obispo, California.

Cuesta College will develop a comprehensive early STEM career exploration framework serving high school students across San Luis Obispo County, including rural, low-income, and first-generation college-bound students. The project implements a combined approach involving a STEM Explorer Day event, STEM immersion summer camps, a STEM Explorer seminar course, and coordinated outreach with local high schools and industry partners. Activities aim to increase STEM career aspirations among participating high school students, help students identify whether an academic or career-technical education pathway aligns with their interests and goals, and build a scalable model for early STEM exploration at other rural-serving community colleges. The project strengthens the transition from high school to two-year college STEM pathways by providing early, hands-on experiences that connect classroom learning with real-world opportunities.

Abstract

This project aims to serve the national interest by offering more opportunities for high school students to explore stem career and academic pathways in advance of entering post-secondary schools. This track 2 ITYC project plans to develop a comprehensive early stem career exploration framework at cuesta college that will help students identify stem interests, understand academic and technical pathway options, and make informed choices about their future education and careers. The project plans to strengthen students? Confidence, curiosity, and readiness for stem by providing early, hands-on experiences that connect classroom learning with real-world opportunities. Building on research and promising practices that demonstrate the importance of early exposure to stem career options, preparatory courses, and practical training experiences, the project plans to implement a combined approach involving stem explorer day, stem immersion summer camps, a stem explorer seminar course, and coordinated outreach with local high schools and industry partners. These activities are expected to engage students across SAN luis obispo county, including rural, low-income, and first-generation college-bound students, while strengthening the transition from high school to two-year college stem pathways. The project has the potential to advance NSF?S mission by supporting student preparation for stem education and careers, expanding knowledge about effective community college?high school partnerships, and creating a scalable model that may inform early stem exploration efforts at other rural-serving community colleges. The goals and scope of the project are to increase stem career aspirations among participating high school students, help students identify whether an academic or career technical education pathway best fits their interests and goals, and build a sustainable local pipeline into postsecondary stem programs and careers. The project plans to implement and evaluate an integrated set of educational and outreach activities, including an expanded annual stem explorer day serving students from multiple K?12 districts within the college service area, tuition-free week-long stem immersion summer camps that combine foundational academic theory with hands-on technical learning, expanded offerings of a for-credit stem explorer seminar focused on guided career research and academic planning, and recurring stem-related outreach and invitational events at cuesta college and partner high schools. Project evaluation will be conducted for program improvement, accountability, and assessment of aggregate project outcomes. Evaluation activities may include anonymous feedback surveys for participants and faculty, participation counts, institutional records with identifiable information redacted, and aggregate longitudinal outcome data used to assess engagement, stem awareness, confidence, enrollment, persistence, completion, and transfer outcomes. Formative evaluation findings will be used to refine implementation over three years and to support project reporting. Dissemination plans include sharing qualitative and aggregated quantitative results through local professional development, regional and state stem education conferences, dual-enrollment meetings, K?16 collaborative gatherings, and publicly available project summaries. The NSF iuse: innovation in two-year college stem education (ITYC) program seeks to accelerate and advance knowledge about the impact of emerging and evidence-based practices in undergraduate stem education at two-year colleges. 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.