Dive Brief:
- A regional public university in Michigan is partnering with a public historically Black college in Georgia to create a pathway for students at the latter institution to earn a bachelor’s and master’s degree in engineering or computer science within five years.
- The program will begin as early as the fall of 2021. Participating students at Fort Valley State University will pay Michigan’s in-state tuition rates during their first year at Grand Valley and be able to visit the latter institution before enrolling.
- The partnership is one of the latest higher education initiatives meant to diversify STEM fields.
Dive Insight:
Officials said that Grand Valley State sought the partnership to help supply companies in western Michigan with a more diverse pipeline of workers. “The two biggest challenges (employers) always give me is, why aren’t you graduating more people? … And two, why isn’t the talent more diverse?” said Paul Plotkowski, dean of Grand Valley’s computing and engineering college.
The university selected Fort Valley State because of its history of partnering with other universities to enroll students in advanced degree programs. Since 1983, Fort Valley State has run the Cooperative Developmental Energy Program initiative, allowing students to spend the first three years of their program at the HBCU and the final two at a partner institution to earn a master’s or doctoral degree.
The new partnership with Grand Valley State follows the same structure. So far, about a dozen students have indicated an interest in the program, said LuWanna Williams, director of Fort Valley’s Center for Student Engagement.
“What Fort Valley brings to the table is a history of being able to create programs such as this,” Williams said. “We have a talented pool of students that need the opportunity this type of relationship can offer.”
Racial disparities have long pervaded STEM fields. Just 6.2% of Black students who completed a master’s degree in 2016 did so in STEM fields, compared to 22.9% of Asian students and 10.7% of White students, according to data compiled by the American Council on Education. Similar disparities exist in bachelor’s and doctoral programs.
Several other initiatives have sprung up recently to address these inequities. Johns Hopkins University in Maryland recently launched an industry called the GradPath Collaborative, which means to bolster the institution’s relationships with HBCUs, the Baltimore Business Journal reported. Although initially designed for the university’s engineering college, it has become an institution-wide initiative.
And Miami Dade College is partnering with an investment firm and technology company to provide underrepresented students a free, 18-week data science program. Participants will also receive the credit they can apply to a bachelor’s degree in analytics at Miami Dade, the South Florida Business Journal reported.
