Scholarships and Academic Support for Minority Student Success

In this innovative and technology driven global market, to remain competitive US needs to increase the number of STEM graduates and develop a diverse workforce.The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effect of scholarships and various academic supports like, mentoring, undergraduate research, career and professional development activities to increase the minority student success, retention, and graduation.This study analyzes the demographics and performance of a cohort of National Science Foundation (NSF) Scholarship Recipient Students supported by an NSF Grant.In addition to scholarships, various academic supports are provided to these talented but financially needy minority students.Statistical analyses of the NSF scholarship recipient students' cumulative GPA, retention rate, graduation rate, and graduation time are analyzed, and compared with those of all the students in the concerned majors, college and the university.Student surveys are also conducted to examine the perception or self-evaluation of the students in this matter.It was found that the demographics of the NSF Scholars under study are similar to all the students in the concerned majors, the college and university.However, the cumulative GPA, retention rate, graduation rate, and graduation time needed are significantly better compared to their peers.This study shows that, the scholarships and various academic supports provided to the talented but financially needy minority students had significant impact on student success, retention, and graduation.