Middlesex Community College has increased enrollment in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) programs of study by nearly 10 percent for the spring semester. And STEM enrollment has increased 84 percent over the last five years.
“The increase in enrollment reflects what’s happening in the workplace,” said Kathleen Sweeney, MCC Dean of Health and STEM. “There are more jobs in STEM fields and people are becoming more aware of that and more interested.”
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Middlesex is keeping up with the increase in interest and STEM enrollment by ramping up initiatives aimed at student success. “Faculty-led efforts are making a big difference in student interest and student completion,” said Sweeney. “Faculty members are helping students at a grassroots level to keep them engaged with their programs of study and developing special initiatives to help them succeed.”
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Creating MCC’s Health & STEM Pathways Center, Summer Bridge Program, and encouraging students to become actively involved in their education by joining the MCC STEM Club, have all helped keep students engaged in their education, said Sweeney. Over the last five years, MCC’s STEM programs have seen a 42 percent increase in student completion rates, she added.
MCC will be able to expand STEM enrollment with the help of a recent grant from Complete College America (CCA) to aid statewide efforts to increase the number of college students who complete degree and certificate programs STEM fields.
Administered through the State Board of Higher Education, the technical-assistance grant will allow nine Massachusetts public campuses to design academic innovations through CCA’s Guided Pathways to Success (GPS) in STEM Careers initiative. The goal of GPS is to help students persist in their studies and then graduate into promising STEM careers.
During the two-year period of the grant, CCA will provide technical expertise to the eight community colleges and one state university to help develop STEM completion goals, and analyze local labor market conditions and workforce needs.
“Through the CCA grant, all of our Health & STEM programs of study are developing ‘program maps’ for student to help them navigate their way through the very challenging STEM coursework, earn a degree, and move on to successful careers,” said Sweeney.
For more information about MCC’s STEM programs, visit https://www.middlesex.mass.edu/stem/ or contact Kathleen Sweeney at sweeneyk@middlesex.mass.edu.
