Computing College to Offer Financial Need Scholarships From NSF Grant

Young adults who may leave college because of the expense may soon have a helping hand, as NJIT’s Ying Wu College of Computing is now offering 12 annual scholarships of $10,000 for each of the next three years to high-performing students in financial need.

The funds come from a $1.38 million National Science Foundation grant. Brookdale Community College, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Kean University and Union County College also received grants as part of the same program, sharing a total of $5 million between the five schools.

“Students who must maintain jobs to pay tuition can have their lives negatively affected by balancing work with their studies. Lack of sleep and stress might inhibit the academic rigor needed to be successful. My goal is to alleviate the need for students to work the late shift at a gas station or a supermarket,” said Professor James Geller, serving as program director for the grant.

"It just breaks my heart," Geller said, when a student withdraws just a few classes shy of their degree. Many may never come back, he noted.

Students recruited into the NSF program Scholarship in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics program, or S-STEM, will be required to participate in workshops, cohort experiences, faculty research and internships. They will also receive faculty guidance and advice on navigating higher education and postgraduate opportunities along with supervision of teamwork, research and recommendations for professional opportunities. A total of 256 students are expected to benefit from the program overall.

First-time, full-time students entering the computer science or data science undergraduate program in the fall semester may apply to the S-STEM program after completing their fall semester with a high grade point average. They will be evaluated based on their overall fit to the requirements of the program, including an in-depth interview with Geller to determine which candidates are most serious about taking advantage of the potentially life-changing opportunity, he said.

Geller has been a champion of diversity at NJIT for many years and said a special effort will be made to ensure that the students supported by the program represent the diversity of the U.S. population.