Baltimore Congressional Delegation Announces $100,000 for Morgan State-Led Initiative to Increase Minority Representation in Engineering

Today, U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin and Congressmen Dutch Ruppersberger, John Sarbanes, and Kweisi Mfume (all D-Md.) announced $100,000 in federal funding to help Morgan State University lead a national initiative to boost minority representation in the engineering sector and improve workforce equity. 

The project will create new opportunities for Black, Hispanic, and other underrepresented minority students to access Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) programs at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and at other minority-serving institutions.

“Growing and diversifying our STEM workforce will help drive greater and more widely shared economic opportunity and prosperity in Maryland and across the country,” said the lawmakers, who have long supported Morgan State University and its STEM-related programs. “Backed by this recent federal investment, Morgan State will help spearhead an urgent, nationwide effort to train a new and more inclusive generation of engineering experts. Our delegation will continue to deliver federal funding for programs that expand our workforce and create good-paying jobs for every community in Maryland.” 

In August, several of the lawmakers announced nearly $1 million to bolster STEM programs at Morgan State University. Last year, Senators Van Hollen and Cardin announced $1.5 million to train STEM faculty and another nearly $1.25 million to build pathways for Black STEM students. 

Morgan State’s “Increasing the Representation of Minorities in Engineering” program builds on an existing partnership that includes Jackson State University, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, and Ziker Research. Funding comes from the National Science Foundation’s Inclusion Across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science (NSF INCLUDES) program, which aims to increase diversity and inclusion in STEM-related academic fields and careers.