The
National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Historically Black Colleges and
Universities (HBCU) Undergraduate Program provides awards to enhance
the quality of undergraduate STEM education and research at
HBCUs. The program began in 1998, funding eight cohorts of
institutions representing 57 of the nation’s 103 HBCUs.
In
2001, the NSF HBCU-UP program funded a cohort of six
institutions: Fort Valley State University, Jarvis Christian
College, Kentucky State University, Saint Augustine’s College,
Southern University New Orleans, and Tougaloo College. This
cohort of institutions produces a larger percentage of STEM graduates
than the national average, with 28.3 percent of their total
graduates being STEM majors, compared to 16.7 percent
nationally. They have also seen a steady increase in this
percentage during the last four years, from 20.8 percent to 28.3
percent, while the national percentage has been relatively flat at
16.5 percent to 16.7 percent.
HBCUs
also made strides in improving those courses that often pose a
problem for beginning STEM majors—also called the “gateway”
courses. Improvements in these courses include changes in
delivery methods, utilizing technology, and providing supplemental
instruction based on current pedagogical research. Data from the
six schools in the 2001 cohort, and the 2002 cohort which includes
Central State University, Claflin College, Norfolk State University,
Talladega College and Wilberforce University, show increases in
successful completion of gateway mathematics courses increase by
approximately 10 percent by year three of their NSF projects. The
2001 cohort showed an 11 percent increase in college algebra and a 10
percent increase in calculus I, while the 2002 cohort showed a 10
percent increase in college algebra and an 8 percent increase in
calculus I. Similar results were evident in biology and
chemistry. The institutions also developed twenty two new
courses, and enhanced sixty eight courses, some leading to new majors
and minors.
