Meng Announces Nearly $1 Million Federal Grant for Queens College

November 21, 2016
Press Release

U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-Queens) announced today that Queens College has been awarded a nearly $1 million federal grant for its Hispanic-Serving Institutions STEM Program, an initiative to improve and expand the school’s capacity to service Hispanic and other low-income students.

The funds, allocated by the U.S. Department of Education, total $968,562 and will be used to help more Hispanic and low-income students graduate with majors in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). The project is renewable annually for up to five years, with a projected budget totaling $5.6 million.

According to the Department of Education, colleges in the United States are not producing enough STEM graduates to meet workforce demands. The grant addresses the problem by targeting the decrease in STEM majors among traditionally underrepresented students.

“STEM plays an important role in our city, state and nation and will continue to do so in the future,” said Meng. “It is crucial that we attract students to the STEM fields, especially traditionally underrepresented students, in order to meet the demand for STEM skills, and these federal funds will help accomplish that here in our borough. I thank Queens College for all its efforts in STEM, and I’m thrilled to deliver the good news about these critical funds.”

“This is a very innovative and transformational grant opportunity that will spark great growth in our STEM enrollment,” said Queens College President Félix V. Matos Rodríguez. “And the beauty of this Hispanic-Serving Institutions grant is that it will help all students—not just Latinos and low-income students—because the curricular changes and programs developed will be open to all students here and at Queensborough. I am proud to say that our efforts at promoting the STEM fields at the college have already been rewarded, as over a third of our current undergraduates major in these important fields, and of those students, over half are minority students.”

The project will involve approximately 24,000 students over the next five years at Queens College as well as Queensborough Community College. The grant seeks to improve access, improve learning, and create bridges for STEM students at the two institutions. The money will be used to:

  • Redesign courses to land students into STEM majors.
  • Facilitate peer-led instruction and mentoring to improve learning and the fostering of intellectual growth outside of the classroom.
  • Create a group of faculty and administrators from Queens College and Queensborough Community College to improve programs, policies, and practices in STEM education.

Queens College and Queensborough Community College serve significant numbers of Hispanic students (26% at Queens College and 32% at Queensborough Community College) and low income students (39% at Queens College and 49% at Queensborough Community College).