The Department of Education awarded Chicago-based Roosevelt University (RU) a $2.8 million grant to expand professional development services and encourage Latino and low-income students to apply to accelerated master’s programs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), according to a university news release.

 

Grants will fund the university’s Navegando Hacia el Éxito (Navigating Toward Success) initiative, which aims to improve Latino students’ career development and well-being. The program will fund effort to foster inclusion and ensure equal access to professional opportunities for these students.

 

Navegando Hacia el Éxito will expand its support systems for Latino and low-income students through mentorship programs, micro-internship opportunities and more. The program encourages Latino students to work with university alumni and apply for internships in professional fields lacking in Latino representation, including clinical psychology, education, medicine and information technology.

 

The program will allow students to apply master’s degree credits toward a Roosevelt University doctoral program and graduate faster and at a lower cost.

 

Only 11.6% of medical school applicants identified as Latino in the 2021–2022 application cycle, and only 6.1% of medical school graduates that year were Latino.

 

Due to these low rates, Latinos now make up just 6% of country’s physicians, despite accounting for almost 19% of the U.S. population. What’s more, there are only about 5,000 Latino psychologists in the United States, representing about 5% of all psychologists.

 

“Roosevelt is committed to equity and ensuring that underserved populations have access to education and careers they want to pursue,” said Mike Maly, PhD, interim provost and executive vice president of academic affairs, in the news release. “This grant will bolster our already exceptional STEM programs and professional development services, and we’re thrilled that these funds will help us further assist RU’s exceptionally diverse student population.”

 

Click #Grant to read articles such as “Molloy University Awarded $3.5M Grant to Support Minority STEM Students,” “UT Health Awarded Grants for MASLD Research” and “Grant to Support Latino STEM Students at NYC College.”