Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU), a comprehensive public undergraduate university located in the city of Chicago, serves approximately 9,000 highly diverse commuter students. NEIU is the one of two, four-year public Hispanic Serving Institutions in the Midwest. NEIU does not have selective enrollment and thus, opens access to many students who would not normally be able to attend a four-year college. Our students are predominantly minority and/or first generation college goers with the greatest challenge in entering the STEM career pipeline. Four primary barriers exist for URM students pursuing biomedical careers: (1) Academic. URM students lack basic knowledge about college education and math and science preparedness, (2) Professional Exposure. URM students lack knowledge about the option for graduate study and connections with those who are in academic careers, (3) Financial. Rising budget deficits have led schools to increase tuition, effectively closing college doors for many URM students, (4) Emotional. Nontraditional students suffer a multitude of issues ranging from how to accommodate work, family financial needs and school obligations to navigating in a culture that doesn’t resemble the culture of their family and friends. NEIU NIH MARC program addresses these four barriers: (1) We created a specific preparatory curriculum with a quantitative emphasis, (2) We exposed our trainees to professional experiences; research experience in a lab throughout their tenure, presenting at professional conferences and meeting established scientists, (3) tuition waivers and stipends that are linked with lab training and (4) creating a research community where trainees feel they belong. In our fifth year, 10 of our 12 graduated trainees are enrolled at high-level PhD programs, and 2 are in the process of applying to PhD and MD/PhD programs. We will present some of the day-to-day activities that have enabled our success pointing to the importance of creating a close-knit community of support.

NIH MARC USTAR program: Preparing nontraditional students for PhD programs from an urban, non-research Intensive, commuter campus

256th National Meeting (2018)

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