Engineering Program Development at Three Institutions

The challenge

Three California institutions — a community college, a regional comprehensive, and a CSU campus — needed to build engineering pathways from the ground up to serve Hispanic-Serving Institution populations and respond to regional industry demand for STEM-trained graduates.

Our approach

Each institution partnered with WRD over multi-decade engagements to secure Title V Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program (DHSI) and Title III HSI-STEM grants. The grants funded curriculum development, articulation agreements with four-year partners, laboratory and technology infrastructure, and ecosystems of student support keyed to engineering retention and completion.

Outcomes

• Antelope Valley College: $26M+ in DHSI and HSI-STEM funding over 25 years; three engineering pathways established (Computer, Electrical, Mechanical); CSU Long Beach articulation partnership; $2.5M+ in lab and technology resources; engineering enrollment grew from 28 students in 2000 to 500+ today; 300+ STEM graduates and transfers annually; $43.5M annual regional economic impact
• CSU Bakersfield: Three baccalaureate engineering programs developed across multiple areas of emphasis; new engineering building with classroom, lab, and student-success space; nearly 600 engineering graduates since program launch in 2010; $112,625 median earnings within five years of completion
• CSU San Marcos: Software and electrical engineering programs established under a 2016 HSI-STEM grant; articulation and transfer agreements created; STEM enrollment and degree completion ecosystem built where prior rates were low

Many colleges and universities have used U.S. Department of Education grants to build and expand programs that prepare students for in-demand, high-wage careers. These three engineering-program engagements — at Antelope Valley College, CSU Bakersfield, and CSU San Marcos — illustrate what sustained, multi-decade institutional partnership with federal grant funding can produce.

Antelope Valley College

AVC is located in California’s High Desert region, an area rich in aerospace and defense resources while serving as the only community college in its 2,000-square-mile service district. Like most public community colleges, AVC has battled chronic underfunding and has relied heavily on competitive federal grant funding to develop programs for its student population.

This led AVC to partner with WRD over the past 25 years to secure over $26 million in Title V DHSI and Title III HSI-STEM grants. With these resources, AVC developed three engineering pathways (Computer, Electrical, and Mechanical Engineering) and established a partnership with CSU Long Beach that provides local access to bachelor’s degrees, investing over $2.5 million in laboratory and technology resources.

Since launching their first engineering cohort in 2000 with just 28 students, AVC now enrolls over 500 engineering students and graduates or transfers more than 300 STEM students annually. These graduates generate a total economic impact of $43.5 million annually in the region.

California State University Bakersfield

CSUB is located at the southern end of California’s Central Valley, an area rich in agricultural and energy resources while educational opportunity is scarce. To meet regional needs and reach a broader student population, CSUB has partnered with WRD over the past two decades to develop and secure multiple Title V DHSI and Title III HSI-STEM grants.

With these resources, CSUB has developed three baccalaureate degree programs in engineering with multiple areas of emphasis to prepare students for careers in the region’s most dominant industry sectors — agriculture and energy. Grant funding resourced the construction of an engineering building with classroom space, lab space, and a student advising and success center for students enrolled in the College of Natural Sciences, Mathematics, and Engineering.

Since launching their first engineering program in 2010, CSUB has graduated nearly 600 students with engineering degrees. These students have median earnings of $112,625 within five years of completion.

California State University San Marcos

In 2016, CSUSM recognized students were experiencing low STEM enrollment and degree completion rates. In response, CSUSM partnered with WRD to develop and secure a Title III HSI-STEM grant designed to establish software and electrical engineering programs, create articulation and transfer agreements in engineering, and build an ecosystem for student success.

The work demonstrates a pattern visible across all three institutions: federal grant funding does not, on its own, build engineering programs. Federal grant funding deployed inside an institutional strategy that takes advantage of it builds engineering programs. The strategy is what makes the funding compound. The funding is what makes the strategy executable.