Several Michigan colleges and universities took part in a White House conference on math and science education this past week.
The college initiative summit focused on better preparing students to succeed in college.
June Youatt is the Michigan State University provost. She says MSU and other schools are interested in bringing underprepared students up to speed "to help them be ready for the kinds of more rigorous courses they’ll have to take in their career."
MSU will develop a hybrid online and classroom summer bridge program in math for underprepared STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) students before they matriculate, launching them more quickly and effectively into STEM coursework as they enter college.
The Obama administration plans to spend millions of dollars to improve access to college and graduation rates for low income students:
- Increasing the number of career-ready college graduates: New networks of colleges that are devoted to producing more college graduates who are career-ready are setting goals and defining plans to help hundreds of thousands of additional students complete a two- or four-year college degree or credential by 2025.
- Enhancing college readiness: New partnerships among high schools, community colleges, and four-year colleges and universities are setting goals and pursuing collaborative strategies to help over 100,000 more students become college-ready by tying together academic expectations, student support systems, and community resources.
- Improving access to highly-trained school counselors: Tens of thousands more students will gain access to high quality college advising by hiring more than 5,000 new school counselors and advisers in school districts and schools most in need of additional college access.
- Strengthening STEM education: Tens of thousands more students will be on a pathway to obtain degrees in STEM and more than 10,000 excellent K-12 teachers will complete college with expertise in STEM fields, marking progress towards the president’s goals to graduate an additional one million STEM students and prepare 100,000 excellent K-12 STEM teachers over a decade.
