Preliminary Assessment Results Of The Nc Lsamp Project

The North Carolina Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (NC-LSAMP) project is an ongoing project aimed to substantially increase the number of underrepresented minorities who will contribute significantly in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, engineering, and technology (STEM) areas, especially in graduate degree programs. To assess the effectiveness of the project, student information from the lead institution, NC A&T State University has been collected for analysis. To assess the effectiveness of the project, two control groups were carefully chosen for years 2003-2004 and 2004-2005. Statistical analysis was performed to ensure the compatibility between the control group and the experimental group. Student cumulative GPAs were recorded for each group over the past two years. Preliminary results from the statistical analysis indicated that the NC-LSAMP project has had a very significant positive impact on student performance. Participants of the NC-LSAMP project performed significantly better than their counterparts in the control group for both years. Although this project is ongoing, it has the potential to significantly impact the retention and graduation rates of underrepresented STEM students.