SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. - With a five-year, $3.56 million grant from the National Science
Foundation, Western Nebraska Community College, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln,
and Southeast Community College are partnering to build the state of Nebraska's Science,
Technology, Engineering, and Math workforce with the new grant, STEM Career Opportunities
in Nebraska: Networks, Experiential-learning and Computation Thinking (STEM CONNECT).
WNCC's allocation for the scholarship is $409,500, according to Information Technology
Instructor Bill Spurgeon, and he is hoping to distribute some of the scholarship money
as soon as the spring 2020 semester.
Spurgeon worked alongside Physics Instructor Scott Schaub and Math Instructors Erandi
Gunapala and Amy Winters to secure the grant allocation for WNCC.
With the STEM CONNECT grant, the three institutions can provide scholarships and academic
support for talented, low-income students, targeting underrepresented minorities,
women, first-generation, and rural students.
The grant is similar to WNCC's SITE grant from 2007-2012 that awarded about $250,000
over the five-year span to an average of 11 students per year. However, the SITE grant
was strictly for Information Technology and Engineering students.
"There's a lot of student success stories from the last time we did this and I expect the same this time around," Spurgeon said of the new STEM scholarship opportunity.
Students can also carry the scholarship into UNL if they wish to pursue a four-year
degree. This is the first transferable scholarship the program has been able to offer.
"What we've had trouble with in the past is students that have a financial need can
get their two-year degree here, but then what do they do when they leave?" Spurgeon
said. "It was a challenge for them to get the next two years. Now they can finish
up here at WNCC and transfer to UNL and have a scholarship waiting for them, that's
the biggest aspect of this grant."
Financial need and scholarship amounts will be determined by the Free Application
for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Scholarships can be as much as $8,000 per year, renewable
for two years at WNCC and SCC, or four years at UNL. After completing courses at WNCC,
students can then transfer to UNL where an additional two years of the scholarship
will be available.
For more information regarding the STEM CONNECT grant, contact Spurgeon at via email
at spurgeon@wncc.edu, or Schaub at schaubs@wncc.edu.