A $270,000 grant from the National Science Foundation will fund 40 new $3,125 per year scholarships for the next two years for science students at California State University, Bakersfield. The grants will be awarded for the 2001-02 academic year.

The new grant is in addition to the $220,000 National Science Foundation grant awarded in 2000 that funded 40 $2,500 scholarships per year for two years. That grant has been extended by two years and will fund 40 additional $3,125 per year scholarships in 2002.

All told, CSUB has available 120 scholarships, worth $700,000, for math, computer science and engineering students.

The scholarships will provide support for students with "high ability and financial need who are studying computer science, engineering and mathematics," said Thomas Meyer, professor of physics and computer science at CSUB. "The scholarships will be for upper-division students (juniors and seniors) in computer science and math, and for lower division students (freshmen and sophomores) majoring in engineering, since we have a pre-engineering program at this point.

"We want to provide academic opportunities to these students who are from low-income families who might otherwise not be able to achieve these goals," he said. "It is terribly exciting for us to receive this grant."

Meyer said the criteria for receiving one of the scholarships is that a student must be a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident, show financial need and have a minimum 2.5 grade point average for previous college work or a 3.0 average for high school students planning to study engineering.

Students transferring to CSUB from Bakersfield College and other community colleges in the area are eligible as well and are encouraged to apply.

Meyer said a committee comprised of faculty of the computer science and math departments set the grade point average at 2.5 because many of the students in their departments who met the criteria were also working and that affected the time they had to study. "We want to be as inclusive as we can," he said. "With the scholarship the students can spend more time on studying and less on outside work allowing them to graduate faster and with better grades."

Those interested in applying for the scholarships should call the Computer Science Department at 661/664-3082. Applications are also available on the web at http://www.cs.csubak.edu/scholarships/NSF_CSEM_Scholarship.html