The NeoSTEM Ecosystem has been selected to join the STEM Pathways for Underrepresented Students to Higher Education Network, STEM PUSH, an NSF Alliance; and is looking for four Cleveland-based pre-college STEM programs to join with us as we work for systemic change in higher education admissions.
The NeoSTEM Ecosystem will be joining the STEM PUSH Network as a member of the second cohort of this five-year project working to magnify the power of pre-college STEM programs, PCSPs, and to reinvent the relationship between those programs and higher education admissions offices.
Cleveland is now among seven communities across the country selected for this sought-after opportunity with STEM PUSH, which was granted $10 million from the NSF as an elite Alliance Award.
PCSPs selected to partner with NeoSTEM and the STEM PUSH Network will join a networked improvement community, NIC. That NIC will provide support to enable the PCSPs to strengthen their programming for racially and ethnically underrepresented groups and generate effective practices for implementation.
Selected programs will have the opportunity to apply for accreditation from Middle States Association, which – if granted – will give the PCSP greater stature in the college admissions process and expand access for Black and Brown students.
While PCSP operators have long supported their students with college recommendations, those recommendations have often been overshadowed by SAT/ACT scores or by a lack of understanding of the pre-college STEM program experience.
The STEM PUSH work seeks to offer a way for college admissions officers to take a more holistic look at students’ applications.
Why Join
There are numerous tangible and intangible benefits for joining NeoSTEM in STEM PUSH as a pre-college STEM program, ranging from integration into a professional community working for systems change to access to tools and practice to strengthen programs’ capacity to the opportunity to become accredited for broadening participation in STEM. (A modest stipend of $7,000 per year will be paid to each selected PCSP along with all expenses, including costs for the accreditation process.)
Learn more here.
Ready to Apply?
To be considered, please complete this brief questionnaire no later than July 26 and we will contact you about next possible steps.