Dive Summary:
- With only 45% of undergraduates completing their STEM degrees, the White House has chosen 9 universities to take part in the Graduate 10K+ program, a five-year project aiming to increase graduation rates in the sciences.
- Chosen by the National Science Foundation, the nine schools selected were: California State University-Monterey Bay, Cornell University, Merrimack College, Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, Syracuse University, the University of Portland, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Texas-Pan American, and a joint partnership made up of the University of Washington and Washington State University.
- The project will receive $10 million in funding from Intel Corp., the GE Foundation and Mark Gallogly, founder and principal of investment firm Centerbridge Partners and a member of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board.
From the article:
"... 'This is going to help create some replicable models for significantly improving retention and persistence and completion rates,' said Thomas A. Kalil, deputy director for technology and innovation at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
It's the latest in a series of efforts by the federal government, universities, and businesses to tackle shortfalls in science education, which have led President Obama to set a goal of producing one million university graduates in the sciences over the next decade. ..."
