Department of Defense award $9.3M to support Hispanic STEM students

Dec. 11 (UPI) -- The Department of Defense on Wednesday awarded $9.3 million to support inclusion of more Hispanic students pursuing science, technology, engineering and mathematics studies in college.

The Pentagon announced the award in a statement, saying it will allocate the funds over five years to support advising of graduate students, fund fellowships and promote faculty leadership.

The funds also will help pay for Pentagon-funded research and inclusive science practices and interventions.

More than 22 colleges and universities that are members of the Alliance of Hispanic Serving Research Universities will receive the funding, led by the University of Texas-El Paso and the University of Central Florida.

The alliance's 22 member universities enroll nearly a third of the nation's undergraduate Hispanic students and will help the Pentagon to build a 21st century workforce with the talent and skills needed to address continually evolving defense challenges, according to the Department of Defense.

"This project will help meet a national security need for a highly trained and agile workforce in areas relevant to national defense," said Farrukh Alvi, director for research capacity and strategic growth in the Basic Research Office within the Office of Under Secretary for Defense for Research and Engineering.

The project "implements a holistic approach to increasing participation from underrepresented groups" and enables administrators to "refine their approach over the life of the project," Alvi said.