Rice University has successfully proposed an NSF Minority Graduate Education (MGE) program. The University of Houston, University of Houston-Downtown and TSU were identified as collaborators with Rice in the MGE proposal. Additionally, the proposed LSAMP was acknowledged by the Rice MGE authors for its potential to provide a continuum of undergraduate to graduate minority education in Houston. We are enthusiastic about the prospect of cooperating with Rice by serving as a feeder to its MGE program.

Many of the other LSAMP objectives will serve to prepare students for graduate study, particularly the requirements that students attend excellence workshops and participate in research activities. We believe that the LSAMP’s most effective strategies to encourage graduate study will be the exposure to research, the mentoring continuum, and contact with Rice University’s graduate students in the enrichment workshops. Through interactions with faculty and graduate students, LSAMP Scholars will learn about graduate school requirements and admissions processes, culture, expectations, opportunities for financial support, and professional opportunities and rewards.