Syracuse-led group of schools to use $2.5M NSF grant to connect the “underserved” to STEM careers

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A Syracuse University-led group of upstate New York schools will use a federal grant to help “increase access for underserved populations and diversify” the STEM workforce in New York and across the country.

STEM is short science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

The $2.5 million in funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) targets the Upstate Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (USLAMP), U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.) and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D–N.Y.) announced Thursday.

The USLAMP project is officially named “Louis Stokes Renewal STEM Pathways and Research Alliance: New York State’s Upstate LSAMP.” Syracuse University leads the group that also includes Onondaga Community College, Cornell University, Clarkson University, Monroe Community College, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Rochester Institute of Technology.

The program will help “institutionalize practices” to attract and retain underrepresented populations of students with STEM majors, Schumer’s office said. It’ll also help “refine practices” to increase the number of students pursuing STEM careers or graduate-level STEM degrees and measure the impact of research experience for undergraduates.

The lawmakers said this investment will be key to providing increased support and research opportunities for underrepresented students entering STEM careers or graduate-level programs. It’ll also help in leading schools across upstate New York to help underserved populations get connected to good paying jobs, “spurred by the federal legislation like the CHIPS & Science Act, Inflation Reduction Act, and [the] bipartisan Infrastructure & Jobs Law,” per Schumer’s office.

“Syracuse is already leading our nation in bringing high-tech and semiconductor manufacturing back to our shores, and now thanks to this $2.5 million federal boost, Syracuse University will continue to lead Upstate NY community colleges and universities in connecting underrepresented students to good paying STEM careers. I am proud to deliver this nearly $2.5 million federal investment to help Syracuse University and its six partner institutions from Rochester to the North Country increase the nation’s STEM workforce, and further boost Central New York’s research leadership,” Schumer said. “This critical NSF investment will spur collaboration between several blossoming Upstate industries and multiple world class research institutions over the next five years, helping give the next generation the skills they need to build America’s future here in Upstate NY.”