Abstract
<jats:p>The National Science Foundation (NSF) approved an S-STEM research program in 2016 to investigate the influence of adult mentors on low socio-economic students seeking collegiate degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)fields (Grant #1644143). Students who expressed a strong desire for an engineering major at a state-supported land grant institution and were denied admission into engineering, but then admitted into Exploratory Studies, were given scholarships and focused mentoring by faculty and staff. The Rising Scholars (RS) program had a very specific pathway of activities through a collegiate career, designed to introduce the students to a variety of potential adult mentors. Students were enrolled in several experiential activities, placing them in proximity to multiple faculty, graduate students, and staff members. Support network members were tracked throughout the study, and a special index was developed to identify professional contact. This study discusses and analyzes how the Engineering Academic Boot Camp (EABC) enhanced these students’ first-semester performance. The results showed that, when compared against engineering students who also attended the EABC, the engineering students did slightly better in GPA and significantly better in percent completion of classes, since this comparison group had a 100% completion rate (%C) of first-semester classes. With regard to long-term effects, the RS had higher graduation rates, but significance could not be shown due to the small sample size. However, this study showed that students who were not selected for admission into an engineering major could be successful at an R1 institution in a STEM field if properly supported.</jats:p>