Senator Mazie Hirono's office issued the following today:
February 21, 2019
Hirono Announces $1 Million in Federal Funding for STEM Scholarships
WASHINGTON, D.C.–
Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) announced that the University of Hawaii will
receive $1 million in support from the National Science Foundation for a new
project aimed at improving the pipeline of low-income students into science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers. Designed to meet
Hawaii’s need for well-educated scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and
technicians, the competitive federal National Science Foundation funding will
support a five-year project will fund annual scholarships for 24 students who
are pursuing associate's degrees and plan to complete bachelor's degrees in
STEM fields.
“In 2016, I
brought the Senate Small Business Committee to Maui to learn more about the
challenges and opportunities facing Hawaii’s students and communities as we
look to fill the good-paying STEM jobs that our economy needs,” Senator
Hirono said. “Project Kiahuwaa is just the kind of initiative that I’ve
been advocating for in Congress to help give our local students the
opportunities and support they need to get into and stay in the STEM pipeline,
earn their degree, and go on to fill existing STEM jobs or create new
innovative businesses in Hawaii.”
“This grant will
increase the number of STEM graduates that our economy so desperately needs,
and this grant will help remove some of the barriers that low-income scholars
face,” Dr. Michael Ferguson, Associate Professor of Chemistry at the
University of Hawaii Maui College, said.
Designed as an
innovative, culturally-appropriate academic program for University of Hawaii
Maui College low-income students to improve overall graduation and transfer
rates to four-year institutions, Project Kaihuwaa: Advancing Low-Income
Students in STEM through a Culturally-Appropriate Academic Journey, will
provide scholarship recipients with STEM faculty mentoring. It will also
provide students with opportunities to participate in leadership development
activities, research, internships, and other activities.
During the 114th
Congress, Senator Hirono convened national experts from the National Science
Foundation, the Small Business Administration, and the Office of Naval
Research, as well as local stakeholders and students who participated in STEM
programs, for a U.S.
Senate Small Business Committee field hearing at Maui High School to
discuss the importance of federal programs that broaden participation in STEM,
including those at NSF.
Senator Hirono
has continued to advocate for federal programs that support women and
minorities in STEM, and during the 115th Congress reintroduced her legislative
plan to broaden participation in STEM, which included S.1270,
the STEM Opportunities Act, to promote better coordination between
federal science agencies and institutions of higher education and best
practices for overcoming barriers that have limited the inclusion of
underrepresented minorities in STEM. The plan also included the Women and
Minorities in STEM Booster Act.
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