Fort Valley HBU receives almost $3 million in STEM grant
Fort Valley State University, a historically Black university, received a nearly $3 million Department of Education grant to improve STEM programs and increase the number of minority graduates.
The grant funds are going toward expanding the university’s Cooperative Developmental Energy Program (CDEP), a program founded in 1983 to address the low number of minorities and women in the energy industry. Today, the program is a 5-year dual-degree STEM program and includes a pre-collegiate feeder program for high school students.
“I am excited that CDEP, one of our special programs with a rich history and record of achievements in producing STEM graduates, has garnered this additional funding to advance the institution’s work in producing minority STEM graduates,” provost and vice president for academic affairs Olufunke Fontenot said.
According to a 2021 report from Pew Research Center, Black workers make up just 5% of engineers and architects and 7% of the computer occupations workforce, yet they make up 11% of the total workforce and 12% of the population in the U.S. Hispanic workers make up 17% of total employment across all occupations but only 8% of STEM workers.
Women now earn the majority of college degrees at 58%, but their share of STEM degrees is lower at 53%. While women are overrepresented in health-related jobs, they are much more underrepresented in STEM categories such as engineering, computer or physical science jobs, Pew Research says.
“There are many academically talented students who don’t have access to financial resources to attend college,” CDEP director Isaac Crumbly said. “This grant will help high achieving students with limited financial resources to attend college.”
The CDEP also targets students from rural areas who may not have had access to quality STEM in primary or secondary school.
FVSU says that while women and minority groups constitute about 70% of students in American colleges and universities, they are represented by only about 45% of undergraduate STEM degrees.
“The project will be beneficial for the state of Georgia,” a release from the university read. “With this grant, FVSU plans to increase those numbers.”
This story was originally published November 28, 2022 at 7:00 AM.
