Rutgers Program Helps Minority Grad Students

NEW YORK—Olatunde Branche, a 31-year-old zoology student at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tenn., was ready to abandon his quest for a Ph.D. because of the cost. Then a professor showed him a magazine advertisement that described a minority fellowship program at Rutgers University. Four years later, Branche is within a few months of receiving his doctoral degree. "That program provided me with the money and the incentive," said Branche, who came to the United States seven years ago from West Africa. Only 10,303 of the 334,500 scientists in the United States with Ph.D.s are black or Hispanic, according to recent figures from the National Science Foundation. That 3 percent share not only falls well below their numbers in the overall population, but it may be shrinking: between 1981 and 1985, according to a survey from the National Research Council, those two minority groups received just 2.6 percent of the 37,769 doctoral degrees in the life and physical sciences granted to U.S. students. University and state officials in New Jersey realized several years ago that their state colleges had an insufficient number of minority faculty members. In 1982 Rutgers and seven other state colleges launched the Minority Academic Career program to attract minorities into all fields. Two years ago Rutgers began a second program, the Minority Advancement Program, for minority students seeking doctoral degrees in the sciences. This spring 28-year-old Ruth Velez became the first student to complete the program when she graduated with a Ph.D. in nutrition science. The cost of graduate school is the biggest obstacle for most minority students, said Alice Crans, assistant director of the Rutgers program. At Rutgers the coursework for a doctoral program in the physical and life sciences costs a minimum of $16,000, and then there's housing, books and other expenses. Rutgers' science program awards eight to 10 fellowships each year, consisting of a $10,000 annual stipend and full tuition. The initial, broader program provides eligible minority students with a $5,000 annual stipend and up to $10,000 in loans. However, one-quarter of the loan is forgiven for each year the successful doctoral candidate teaches in a New Jersey college or university. The programs provide more than just financial aid. Students are helped with admissions and housing problems, and they participate in ongoing counseling and support groups to break down the isolation that minority graduate students often face. "It's important for minority students to have role models," Crans said about faculty participation in the program. "And we insist on interviews with students just to make sure we're not missing something." Earning, Not Learning Branche, who plans to work either at a state college or in a state health office after receiving his degree, asserts that "we don't have enough minorities in the sciences. I know there are qualified people out there who just don't know about this program and who don't have the money or incentives to go further in their education." Arnold Hyndman, a neurobiologist, came to Rutgers in 1981 and two years later was chosen to run the minority program. He noted that, although several universities began programs in the 1960s to attract talented minority students, interest faded in the 1970s and few programs survived into the 1980s. "The programs were developed in response to social and political pressures at the time," he said. "When the pressures were no longer there, there was no longer a perceived need for the programs." Since 1978 the federal government has run a modest program for minority scientists administered by the National Science Foundation. In 1984, a typical year, NSF gave out 60 awards from a pool of 525 applicants. NSF also is involved in a program, begun in 1984 and funded by the Ford Foundation, that since 1984 has given out about 35 awards annually to minority doctoral students. But many educators believe that level of support is inadequate. Several universities have followed Rutgers' lead and begun programs in the past few years, sometimes using Hyndman as a consultant. "Federal programs are insufficient," said Homer Rose, assistant dean of the graduate school at the University of Michigan, which has $3 million from private sources to support minority graduate students in all fields. "In recent years the funds have moved to loan programs rather than grant and fellowship programs. That policy hits minorities harder than other kinds of students." The University of Texas offers several options for minorities seeking advanced degrees in science, explained Sarita Brown, director of the graduate opportunity program at the main campus in Austin. The goal of the programs, Brown said, is a more representative faculty. Out of more than 2,000 tenured professors, she noted, 18 are Hispanic and only 10 are black. "I would say that, for the doctoral-level programs, there is the hope that by increasing the number of minority graduate students we will increase the number of minority faculty." Freundlich is associate editor of Popular Science magazine in New York.

Rutgers Program Helps Minority Grad Students

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