The National Science Foundation has awarded Dr. Cory Brozina his third award for $300,000 for a 3-year research project entitled "Studying Student Support and Success Experiences to Improve Persistence of Nontraditional Students in Engineering". This is the 100th award that Youngstown State University has received from the NSF. 

This project aims to serve the national interest by increasing persistence of students in undergraduate engineering programs. To do so, it will conduct a study of nontraditional students in engineering with the goal of better understanding how to support their completion of engineering degrees. This project will contribute to an understudied area of research: understanding the needs and experiences of nontraditional students in engineering. The project research plan uses a theory-driven mixed-methods case study of nontraditional students in engineering at Youngstown State University over a three-year period and will produce a body of knowledge on experiences and supports for nontraditional students in engineering. It will also generate action-focused guidelines for improving persistence and success of nontraditional students in engineering. This project will examine three research questions: (1) What is the holistic experience of current nontraditional students in engineering? (2) How do nontraditional students in engineering engage with co-curricular supports as they progress through their degree program? and (3) What impact do nontraditional student characteristics have on student integration and student success? 

For more information about the award read the abstract posted on the NSF website here.