Attracting US college students to science

The New York TImes : Brent Staples writes about the experiences of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, in attracting students to science. According to Staples, despite being generally less well known than the main University of Maryland campus, UMBC is building a significant reputation for remaking science education in America âmdash; and in particular, for increasing minority participation, which lags even after decades of federally supported initiatives. The reason for their success is UMBC’s Meyerhoff Scholars Program, which has about 1,900 applications each year for about 50 places. A study in Science published on 31 March suggested that “86 percent of the Meyerhoff participants graduated with science or engineering degrees. Nearly 9 in 10 of those graduates went on to graduate or professional programs, with a significant number earning M.D.'s or Ph.D’s, or both....More than half of the Meyerhoff students are black."Other universities should follow UMBC’s lead, says Staples, but it “won’t be easy.”