The Retaining and Inspiring Students in Science and Engineering (RISE) program at Grand Valley State University (GVSU) is funded by the National Science Foundation’s Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S-STEM) program. RISE provides a set of progressively increasing scholarships for low-income, academically talented students who have identified an interest in pursuing a science or engineering major. RISE scholars will be engaged in a cohort with faculty mentors to provide a robust support network and experiential learning opportunities, including summer research and internships, which have been shown to improve retention and graduation rates through disciplinary socialization.

The project builds on a prior successful S-STEM program by incorporating additional evidence-based curricular and extracurricular student supports including early engagement with faculty mentors, expanding research-based experiential learning opportunities in STEM disciplines, and extending the successful GVSU paid industry co-op/internship experiential learning model in engineering and computing to all sciences. Required co-curricular seminars and extracurricular activities will assist RISE scholars in investigating the breadth of career opportunities in science and engineering and prepare them for research, co-op, or internship experiences, which will help them make informed decisions about their career paths.

The project team will collaborate with area community colleges (CC) to identify potential RISE scholars from students transferring from Grand Rapids Community College (GRCC), Northwestern Michigan College (NMC) and Ottawa Intermediate School District (OAISD)/Muskegon Community College (MCC) early college program.