HBCU STEM US Research Center

About US

Funded by the National Science Foundation, the new HBCU Undergraduate Success Research Center (STEM US) is led by social scientists, natural scientists, and computer scientists from Morehouse College, Spelman College, and Virginia State University. The five-year STEM US $9 million grant will be administered through Morehouse College. Students, faculty, and administrators from up to 50 HBCU’s will participate in the Center. 

The STEM US (pronounced ‘stem-us’) Center will employ a large-scale community participatory research approach to conduct empirical, mixed method studies and publish peer reviewed research on the successful cultivation of STEM students at HBCUs. To highlight the different academic cultures and the students they serve, given the varying competences and economic profiles, the Center will study HBCUs individually and by classification (i.e. large vs. small, public vs. private, rural vs. urban, etc.).  

To accomplish this goal, the STEM-US Center has already created a research hub for HBCU faculty. With additional adequate funding, the STEM-US Center will take a comprehensive approach to produce: 1) a holistic strategy by integrating research, education, outreach and knowledge transfer to effectively understand and disseminate at local, state and national levels the contributions, impact, and positive legacy of HBCUs in broadening participation; 2) a common theoretical framework that helps to expose the vulnerabilities while developing the necessary support for promoting resilience, success, and retention of students; and 3) research-based protocols and analytical findings that will inform mainstream education reform as well as contribute to the larger goal of overcoming race-related educational disparity in the United States.  

 INCLUDE: 

• a holistic strategy integrating research, education, outreach, and knowledge transfer . This approach is needed to effectively disseminate, at local, state and national levels, the contributions, impact, and positive legacy of HBCUs in broadening participation; 

• a common theoretical framework that helps to identify student vulnerabilities while developing the necessary support for promoting resilience, success, and retention; and 

• research-based protocols and analytical findings that will inform mainstream education reform, as well as contribute to the larger goal of overcoming race-related educational disparity in the United States. 

This material is based in part upon work supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under Grant Numbers  HRD-2025221 and HRD-2010676. Any opinions, findings, interpretations, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of its authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the National Science Foundation.