HBCU Core NSF Grant

Under a National Science Foundation grant, AIR, in collaboration with Quality Education for Minorities and the Kapor Center, is examining learning environments that enable undergraduate students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to thrive and subsequently attain doctoral degrees in science and engineering. 

The goals of the study are to:

• Identify unique characteristics of science and engineering learning environments at the 21 HBCUs ranked as top producers of Black baccalaureate degree recipients who earn science and engineering doctorates (“anchor institutions”);
• Identify HBCUs that have similar characteristics as the anchor institutions and have a high potential to graduate students who go on to earn doctoral degrees; and 
• Develop and disseminate a model that builds HBCU capacity to produce graduates who go on to earn science and engineering doctorates.