Written by Jeffrey Cabanez, CSU STEM VISTA 2014-2015
When you hear the word PEEPS, what comes to mind? Probably five yellow marshmallows shaped as tiny chickens, or five pink marshmallows shaped as tiny bunnies, placed in a box wrapped in plastic. You know, the candy that everyone likes for two months out of the year but is irrelevant for the other ten. When I hear the word PEEPS, I think academic learning communities, professional development opportunities, block scheduling, and financial aid.
At Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, I am working with a brand new scholarship program called the Program for Engineering Excellence for Partner Schools, cleverly shortened to PEEPS. PEEPS aims to recruit, retain, and graduate engineering students from underrepresented backgrounds. To recruit students to apply for our scholarship program, we worked with Admissions and Financial Aid to see what target group would benefit the most. We decided that Cal Poly Partner Schools would be the students we recruit from. A Cal Poly Partner High School is a high school that meets one or more of the following criteria:
- The school is part of the College Preparation Partnership Program introduced by Senator Hayden.
- The school supports First Generation student’s efforts to attend college.
- The school primarily serves students eligible for free or reduced school lunch.
CSU STEM VISTA 