(Washington, DC)— Congresswoman Gwen Moore (D-Wisc.) and Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wisc.) today announced that Marquette University will receive $333,000 for its College of Engineering, which will work in conjunction with the University’s Educational Opportunity Program (EOP), and the nonprofit Council for Opportunity in Education (COE) to develop, test and disseminate six Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) curricular modules. These modules will be used in Saturday programs, afterschool programs and summer school programs that are focused on low-income youth in grades 6 through 12 who are potential first-generation college students.

This project addresses the lack of STEM skills among today’s students and will assist in creating a pipeline of students prepared to enter academic disciplines and work in science, math and engineering careers of vital interest to our country. This effort is intended to serve as a model that can be adopted by other programs across the nation.

“Projects like these are a long-term investment in America’s future generations,” Congresswoman Moore said. “America is only home to about five percent of the world’s population, which means that we have to maintain our technological leadership amongst the other 95 percent of people in the world. We have to continue to produce more scientists and engineers who can help keep America ahead of the curve in terms of new technology, alternative energy, and clean water technologies, for example.”

“These funds will help us get younger students into the higher education pipeline and onto the paths that will help America produce the highly-educated workers we need in the sciences. Furthermore, these funds are intended to help those who might become first-generation college students, and would thereby start an entirely new educational tradition within their own families and for generations to come.”

“Science, math, technology, and engineering are constantly growing and evolving fields,” Sen. Kohl said. “This federal funding will develop programs to get young students interested in applied science programs using the most up-to-date training tools and curriculum.”

In 1969, Marquette established one of the nation’s first Educational Opportunity Programs (EOP) to further the university’s mission of educating all people – particularly those who otherwise might not find an institution of higher education. EOP’s success in serving low-income and first-generation college students is complemented by that of Marquette’s College of Engineering in reaching out to encourage young minds to pursue careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields through specialized education programs that have drawn wide interest and support in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and beyond.

The Council for Educational Opportunity (COE) is a nonprofit organization established in 1981 to further the expansion of educational opportunities throughout the United States. Through its numerous membership services, COE works with colleges, universities and agencies that host federally-funded TRIO Programs – such as Talent Search, Upward Bound, Upward Bound Math/Science, Veterans’ Upward Bound, Student Support Service, Educational Opportunity Centers and the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program. These TRIO programs help low-income Americans enter college and graduate.

The modules developed with this funding will engage young people in TRIO and TRIO-type programs in learning experiences that acquaint them with the skills and problem-solving approaches necessary in the STEM disciplines. More than 1,450 federally funded TRIO programs and approximately 700 state and privately funded programs work with approximately 600,000 young people from these targeted groups. However, few of these programs have the financial or curricular resources to offer exciting, hands-on programs that stress basic STEM skills.

Funding will support research and related academic work in preparing and drafting relevant curricula modules by Marquette University’s EOP and College of Engineering faculty and staff, with consulting and related support of COE in disseminating and facilitating implementation and evaluation of these modules nationally. Each set of curricular materials will enable pre-college opportunity programs to develop students’ knowledge and skills in STEM fields and enhance their ability to integrate academic and social learning.

“This grant allows Marquette to combine the 40 years of experience of our Educational Opportunity Program and an award-winning STEM outreach program in our College of Engineering,” said Marquette EOP Director Sande Robinson. “With the added support of COE, we will be able to develop science, technology, engineering and math exercises and lessons for this program and provide them to TRIO programs nationwide.”

“This program will offer hands-on, project-based activities where students need to work in teams to solve problems,” said Jon Jensen, Associate Dean for Enrollment and Management for Marquette’s College of Engineering. “These are vital skills for everyone, but particularly for first-generation and low-income students to succeed, both in college and in future careers.”

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For an interview with Congresswoman Gwen Moore, please contact Marni Goldberg at 202-593-8574.

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