Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation

The Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) is designed to increase the quality and number of students from under-represented minority groups who complete undergraduate degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).

The program is funded by the National Science Foundation with the long-term goal of increasing the number of under-represented students who enter STEM professions and potentially pursue post-baccalaureate studies. Across the country, LSAMP provide support services at many levels to help interested students succeed in STEM majors and careers and to provide networks with other LSAMP Scholars.

Garden State LSAMP is a learning community that includes eight schools in northern New Jersey that work together to achieve these goals: New Jersey City University, Rutgers-Newark, Rutgers-New Brunswick, Essex County College, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Kean University, Montclair University, and William Paterson University.

STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) are exciting and challenging and lead to rewarding and stable careers. Most of the problems our world faces are being addressed by professionals in STEM areas. Whether it is to address global warming, energy production, food production, finding cures to disease, information technology or space travel, it will require a vast supply of STEM professionals for success. The problem is that there is a severe shortage of people with this kind of training in the United States. For that reason, the U.S. is falling behind many countries in our ability to compete.

To address this need, the LSAMP program was initiated by the National Science Foundation.

The program was designed to greatly increase the number of professionals in STEM fields from minority groups who are traditionally underrepresented. The idea is to provide support services. From the community college level through senior level of college to help interested students be successful in STEM majors. The program now has 41 LSAMP alliances and is considered one of the most successful of its kind. The Garden State LSAMP Phase II will continue this tradition.

By synergistically interacting with the Northern New Jersey Bridges to the Baccalaureate program, the Phase II Garden State LSAMP helps to guide and encourage STEM majors from community college through graduate school and into a rewarding career.