Thurgood Marshall College Fund Launches STEM Website For Students at Black Colleges

New York, NY – The United States is falling behind globally in graduating students in critical areas of career development such as Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). With a goal to support the national needs of the country to remain competitive and increase the pipeline of students majoring and graduating in STEM programs, the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) launched today a Web site to provide access to the resources available to STEM on the campuses of the 47 public Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) across the country.

Public HBCUs have experienced colossal growth in producing future leaders in STEM compared to majority institutions. Recent data indicates that enrollment in STEM programs increased by 57 percent over the last two-decades at public HBCUs. Also, African-American male graduate degrees conferred have increased by 36 percent for STEM fields over the last ten years. Currently, 23,531 students are enrolled in bachelor’s degree STEM programs, which represent 11.8 percent of the total undergraduate enrollments.

The STEM Web site has three objectives:

to provide career resources to students on careers in STEM;
to provide educational resources to students on ongoing research and published works at member schools;
to provide a message board for students to ask pertinent questions and share information with professors and students at other colleges and universities.

“Our numbers show that in every entity of STEM, minority students at the public HBCUs are increasing enrollment,” said Dwayne Ashley, President & CEO, Thurgood Marshall College Fund. “The STEM Web site will act as a conduit between receiving and disseminating information to keep the students at our campuses abreast of the advancements being made and the available opportunities to them.”

A major component of the Web site is the career bank/resources database, grouped according to majors; that provides information to students on the different STEM careers. Employers will have the ability to post different STEM job vacancies and students will be able to apply for employment, internships and network with potential employers. Additionally, students will be able to view descriptions of occupations within each field, its degree requirements and salary range.

Within the STEM site is a graduate school database that offers students information on the many graduate programs offered at the public HBCUs. Students can access links to the different schools, their admission processes and program requirements.

The STEM Web site is available now at: www.thurgoodmarshallfund.org.

The Thurgood Marshall College Fund, Inc., named for the late U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice, was established in 1987 and represents 47 public Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and 6 law schools located in 22 states and the US Virgin Islands with a population of over 235,000 students. Over the last 21 years, TMCF has awarded more than $100 million in leadership development, programmatic and capacity support, and scholarships enabling more than 12,000 students to attend public HBCUs. It is the only national organization of its type that provides merit-based scholarships and programmatic support to students attending the nation’s public HBCUs. TMCF also provides internship programs and joins corporate and foundation partners in providing leadership training and support to students preparing for undergraduate and professional schools. TMCF is a 501(c) (3), tax-exempt organization. Please visit the Thurgood Marshall College Fund at www.thurgoodmarshallfund.org.