- Details
- By Native News Online Staff
Program Includes Support to Promote Academic and Career Success
DENVER — The American Indian College Fund received a four-year $300,000 grant from the Clare Boothe Luce Program at the Henry Luce Foundation to help increase the number of Native American women in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields by earning a college degree.
Native American women have the lowest representation in the STEM fields.
With the grant award, the American Indian College Fund will award $75,000 to four outstanding AIAN women seeking a bachelor’s degree in the hard sciences at four-year granting tribal colleges and universities. Students will receive $18,750 disbursed per year, based on the average cost of attendance at a four-year tribal college or university.
“Indigenous people possess great science, mathematical, and engineering knowledge and have been remarkably adaptive to technologies. Supporting Indigenous women, who have been underrepresented in STEM fields, as they pursue STEM degrees, honors that knowledge and helps us to contribute to modern society,” said Cheryl Crazy Bull, president and CEO of the American Indian College Fund.
The American Indian College Fund’s 2014-2018 Clare Boothe Luce Women’s STEM Tribal College Scholarship Program was one of its most successful to date. The program provided scholarships and wraparound services to participating students, ensuring a graduation rate of 100 percent.
Eligible students must be enrolled during the 2020-21, 2022-23, and 2023-24 academic years and studying in qualifying hard science majors at a four-year degree-granting tribal colleges and universities (areas of study include but are not limited to computer science, industrial engineering, electrical engineering, and hydrology). Preference will be given to students studying in fields in which American Indians and Alaska Natives are most underrepresented.
In addition to the scholarship award, the program will also provide AIAN women scholars with programs to support their retention, graduation, and career readiness. These programs include internships, mentorships, career readiness programs,
Students can apply online for the scholarship at www.collegefund.org/scholarships. Deadline to apply is May 31, 2020.
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