NSF Tries to Lure Minority Students to Science

President Obama's 2011 budget calls for the elimination of three National Science Foundation programs, according to Paul Basken of the Chronicle for Higher Education: the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program, the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation, and the Tribal Colleges and Universities Program. Instead, the NSF will receive $103 million for a program called Comprehensive Broadening Participation of Undergraduates in STEM. NSF director Arden Bement says that with the approach of spending by racial group, there hasn't been a significant increase in the number of minority students majoring in the sciences. But Basken says some people are unhappy with the plan; competition for funding could undermine the relationships between institutions that serve minority students.