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HARVARD SYMPOSIUM:
The Meyerhoff Scholarship Program: UMBC
HHMI investigator Michael Summers (left) and UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski note that high expectations for students are a key component of the Meyerhoff Scholarship Program.
Established in 1988 by a $522,000 endowment from Baltimore philanthropists Robert and Jane Meyerhoff, this program is considered to be the gold standard of diversity honors programs. It provides a full-ride scholarship for high-achieving minority science students. Scholars start in a summer bridge program that includes calculus and physics preparatory courses, field trips to explore a variety of research careers, and workshops on study skills and career development.
Once in college, the scholars participate in study groups, meet regularly with the program’s academic counselors, and form a community of support for each other. After their first year, scholars are encouraged to begin research on campus and to spend at least one summer doing research in a different setting.
Eighty-five percent of the 511 Meyerhoff students who have graduated since 1993 have earned a science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM) degree, and their average GPA is 3.5. Michael Summers, a chemist and HHMI investigator at UMBC who participates in the program as a faculty research mentor, noted that the program gets roughly 2,000 applicants each year for about 50 scholarships.
“You cannot tell me there are not students out there with the talent and interest in science,” he said. “So what is different at UMBC?” he asked. While it is true that Meyerhoff Scholars receive ample financial support, and the program has enough students to create the feel of a family, Summers chalked up success to two other components—minority leadership in UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski, and the establishment of high expectations for the students.
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