The College at Brockport Receives $600,000 National Science Foundation Grant

BROCKPORT, NY (05/08/2009)(readMedia)-- The College at Brockport, State University of New York, has received a $600,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to provide scholarships to juniors, seniors and graduate students majoring in physics, mathematics or computer science.

"The purpose of the scholarships is to help students get off the treadmill of odd jobs so that they can concentrate on their studies," said Sanford Miller, PhD, professor of mathematics and author of the grant proposal. The Brockport grant application was one of 85 selected by the NSF from the 277 proposals submitted.

The Brockport Physics, Mathematics and Computer Science Scholarship Program (BPMACS) will provide $5,000 for 28 upper division students beginning in the fall 2009 semester and continuing through the spring 2013 semester.

The College at Brockport received a similar $600,000 NSF grant award in 2007 that funded 25 scholarships ($5,400) for freshman and sophomore students majoring in physics, mathematics and computer science. Between the two grant awards The College at Brockport will provide 212 one-year scholarships totaling $1.2 million.

Angela Johanning, a freshman from Colonie, NY, is majoring in math and secondary education. She says that, "the scholarship means that I don't have to work as much during the school year to pay for college. I have an older sister in medical school and a brother at a private college, so the scholarship is important."

Josh Swanson, a freshman from Hamlin, NY, majoring in math and computer science, said that the scholarship he's received means "I only have to work one night a week instead of four or five to help pay for college. It helped me keep my GPA high."

The NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S-STEM) Program is intended to encourage and enable the achievement of higher education degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics by talented but financially disadvantaged students. It was established in accordance with the American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act of 1998.

Scholarships are awarded on a semester-by-semester basis and can be used for expenses normally incurred by full-time students, including tuition, fees, books, supplies and equipment.

More information on both College at Brockport Physics, Mathematics, and Computer Science scholarship programs is available at www.brockport.edu/pmacs and www.brockport.edu/bpmacs.