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ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½Æƽâ°æÏÂÔØ mathematician earns competitive grant to fund scholarships and mentoring for academically talented, low-income students pursuing STEM degrees

Rebecca Machen, an assistant teaching professor in the University of Colorado Boulder Department of Mathematics, has been awarded a grant from the highly competitiveÌý (NSF) program forÌý (S-STEM).Ìý

Machen, principal investigator on the award alongside co-principal investigatorsÌýTamara Sumner ²¹²Ô»åÌýÌýEvy McUmber, will receive $2 million between January 2027 to December 2032 for scholarships that aim to support students facing financial barriers to completing STEM degrees.

Rebecca Machen is assistant teaching professor in the ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½Æƽâ°æÏÂÔØ Department of Mathematics.

Twenty-four students will receive scholarships averaging approximately $12,500 annually for up to five years. This support will also give recipients access to peer mentoring, cohort building, academic coaching, professional development and internships.Ìý

The program builds on the investigators’ previous ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½Æƽâ°æÏÂÔØ experience. Machen served as director of STEM instruction in the Student Academic Success Center (SASC), which has supported low-income students since the 1970s. McUmber is a chemistry faculty member in SASC and brings extensive experience working directly with its students, while Sumner has led NSF-funded initiatives and helped strengthen and elevate the project as it developed. Together, the team is building on SASC's longstanding academic and community-support model while adding a level of sustained financial assistance and a network of campus partners that had not previously been integrated at this scale.

This project's overarching goal is to increase STEM degree completion among high-achieving undergraduates with financial need, ensuring the number of STEM graduates can keep up with the ever-advancing demand in developing technologies. The project will be formally evaluated by an outside party using matched-comparison analyses of retention, time-to-degree and job or graduate-school placement, contributing to the broader knowledge base on what tangibly helps low-income students succeed in STEM.

"Financial need continues to be a significant barrier to accessing and completing higher education," Machen said. As fields like artificial intelligence, quantum science, robotics and biotechnology continue to grow, she wants talented students from all economic backgrounds to have the chance not just to earn degrees in these areas but to see themselves represented in the careers shaping the future. "This program gives students the financial, academic and professional support they need to pursue those opportunities," she added.

The National Science Foundation's S-STEM program specializes in increasing the number of academically talented, low-income students with demonstrated financial need who earn degrees in STEM fields. The program also aims to improve the education of future STEM workers and generate knowledge about the academic success, retention, transfer, graduation and career pathways of low-income students. This year, NSF is funding numerous S-STEM projects nationwide, including ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½Æƽâ°æÏÂÔØ's, as part of its Track 2 cohort.

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