NSF Invests to Improve Undergraduate STEM Education at Hispanic-Serving Institutions

POSTED ON Oct 07, 2022

As the nation celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month, the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program has awarded 48 grants to Hispanic-serving institutions totaling approximately $27 million to support various projects.

The goals of NSF’s HSI program are to enhance the quality of undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education and to increase the recruitment, retention, and graduation rates of students pursuing an associate or bachelor’s degree in STEM.

Achieving these goals, given the diverse nature and context of the HSIs, requires additional strategies that support building capacity through innovative approaches.

The intended outcomes of the HSI program include broadening the participation of students who are historically underrepresented in STEM and expanding students’ pathways to continued STEM education and integration into the STEM workforce.

The NSF HSI Program has three tracks:

The Planning or Pilot Projects track funds projects up to $500,000 for up to 2 years. This track provides a funding opportunity for institutions that are new to NSF or are primarily undergraduate institutions, including community colleges.

The Implementation and Evaluation Projects track funds projects up to $1 million for up to 3-5 years. This track supports implementation of evidence-based unit-, department-, or multi-department-level activities that will enhance the quality of undergraduate STEM education.

The Institutional Transformation Projects track funds projects up to $3 million for up to 5 years. This track supports institution-wide structural or systemic changes to enhance undergraduate STEM education at the proposing HSI.

The HSI program also supports proposals for conferences addressing critical challenges in undergraduate STEM education and broadening STEM participation.

The FY 2022 recipient institutions include the University of Bridgeport, Houston Baptist University, Los Angeles Pierce College,
Bloomfield College, San Diego State University-Imperial Valley, John Jay College, Menlo College, Bakersfield College, Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico, California State University, San Bernadino, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Bronx Community College, Doña Ana Community College, San Francisco State University, San Antonio College, Sonoma State University, University of Puerto Rico Aguadilla,
The Metropolitan State University of Denver, New Mexico Highlands University, University of Southern California, San Francisco State University, University of California, Santa Cruz, University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez, Saint Mary’s College of California, Cal Poly Pomona,
The University of Arizona, NOVA Southeastern University, California State University, Los Angeles, Our Lady of the Lake University, University of Central Florida, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and University of North Texas.

Other universities include the University of Houston, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, the University of Arizona, Pima Community College, California State University, San Bernadino, The University of Texas at San Antonio, Florida International University,
the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the University of California, Northridge.

Conference grants include The State of Equitable STEM Pedagogy at California Community Colleges – Santa Monica College; Building an HSI Grantee Community of Inclusive Excellence – Saint Edward’s College; Promoting Servingness across CUNY HSIs – New York City College of Technology; and the HSI Intersectionality Community of Practice for Student Success (HSI-ICPSS) – University of New Mexico.