STEM Starter Academy: Impact and Value
September 2020
The STEM Starter Academy (SSA) is a Massachusetts Department of Higher Education (DHE) initiative to recruit, ready, retain, and complete significantly more students through community college STEM pathway programs that result in job placement within STEM professions or transfer to university STEM programs. To address the need for a diverse population of skilled STEM graduates, SSA (1) recognizes the untapped potential of underrepresented student populations; (2) supports differentiated approaches to meet student needs; and (3) curates best practices at scale to promote positive student outcomes. Through STEM-focused relationships and social networks, diverse students not only have access to but are accessing a continuum of supports (academic, experiential learning, and wraparound).
