Dive Brief:
- The Department of Education has awarded more than $3 million to 13 minority serving institutions through the Minority Science and Engineering Improvement Program.
- The money will be distributed over three years to help institutions expand programming in science, technology, engineering, and math for minority students, as well as fund faculty training and renovate STEM labs.
- Schools in Alabama, Arkansas, California, D.C., Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, New York, Puerto Rico, and Texas received between $118,975 and $300,000 in the first-year grant award.
Dive Insight:
An increasing average debt load on college graduates is creating more attention on student outcomes.
The Obama administration's College Scorecard emphasizes post-college job earnings as a key outcome. Its latest round of grant funding supports the path to high-income careers for minority students, as graduates in STEM fields have been shown to earn 26% more than a peers who graduated with degrees in other fields.
Some colleges and universities are struggling to balance STEM and job placement with their liberal arts education that they say prepares students for a lifetime of work rather than their first job.