Abstract University of Nebraska - Omaha (UNO) and Metropolitan Community College (MCC) have recently completed a five-year NSF STEP project to increase the number of homegrown STEM graduates. The overall project has been quite successful, and the numbers of degrees granted has increased. However, some strategies have worked much better than others. Among the successful strategies are close collaboration between the two institutions, support for walk-in tutoring, early undergraduate research, bridge scholarships, and adult learner scholarships. Conversely, targeting incoming freshmen as recipients of scholarships is not only expensive, but also found to be relatively ineffective at increasing the number of STEM graduates. Key words: collaboration, bridge, scholarship, walk-in, tutoring, early undergraduate research Introduction The United States is not producing enough homegrown college graduates in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) areas, and the National Science Foundation (NSF) is making a massive effort to remedy this situation. In particular, NSF established a program called STEP (STEM Talent Expansion Program) to give two- and four-year colleges and universities in the United States a financial incentive to attempt any and all reasonable strategies to increase the number of American students studying, and graduating in, the STEM areas. The University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) and Metropolitan Community College (MCC) received a grant, "UNO and MCC STEPping Together," in the first round of competition in 2003 and kicked off a joint five year program in May 2004. The NSF STEP Request for Proposals makes it very clear that STEP'S emphasis is on effectiveness, not innovation. In other words, it is not necessary to do something new and different, just to do things that work to increase the number of STEM graduates. Our basic approach has been broad and inclusive, based on the assumption that we would have the greatest success if we reached out to large numbers of potential STEM students. UNO and MCC are the two largest postsecondary institutions in Omaha, NE, a growing metropolitan area, and are not competing with each other to attract students. For these reasons, it is natural for us to work together to promote STEM education. Now one year beyond the end of the five year grant funding, we believe that we have achieved overall success as indicated by the following "bottom line" data (Table 1): During this period the number of UNO STEM graduates grew by 38% while the total number of UNO graduates grew by 32%. Overall biology (including bioinformatics) made big gains in graduation rates; chemistry and mathematics made modest gains; and computer science, geology and physics were essentially flat. These outcomes by discipline track closely with the degree of UNO faculty and departmental participation in STEP activities, as will be seen in the discussion to follow. Having the PI and a co-PI from mathematics and chemistry, respectively, increased the awareness of STEP in these two departments but having much more faculty enthusiasm for STEP in biology made an even bigger difference. The pipeline from MCC into UNO STEM majors also expanded significantly during the grant period and, based on the work established in this program, this particular success will be more evident in the years to come. These gains were made possible by a variety of activities, some of which were much more effective than others. In this article, we describe those strategies that we have found most effective - as well as those that we have found to be relatively ineffective - for the benefit of other institutions that have the same goal of increasing the number (and enhancing the educational experiences) of STEM majors. We begin by describing our efforts to develop collaborative relationships between both institutions and faculty, because a) these actions established the context required for the development and implementation of other strategies, and b) we believe that the importance of establishing collaborative relationships is often overlooked. …