NASA Awards Scholarships to 100 College Students

WASHINGTON, June 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA has selected 100 full-time
undergraduate students to receive a one-year college scholarship. NASA's
Motivating Undergraduates in Science and Technology, or MUST, project awards
scholarships and internships to students pursuing degrees in science,
technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, fields.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO)

"Education projects such as MUST seek to inspire and equip diverse students
who are underrepresented in STEM disciplines to pursue a career at NASA," said
Joyce Winterton, assistant administrator for Education at NASA Headquarters in
Washington. MUST is open to all undergraduates and is particularly focused on
engaging students from underserved and underrepresented groups to enter STEM
fields.

As part of the program, students benefit from year-round tutoring and
professional development training, attendance at lecture series, and mentoring
from science, technology, engineering and math faculty and peers. Scholarship
recipients who maintain the required minimum grade point average also are
eligible for a paid internship at a NASA center.

MUST scholars represent the following colleges and universities:
- Auburn University, Auburn, Ala.
- Brown University, Providence, R.I.
- California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
- California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
- California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
- Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh
- Clark Atlanta University, Atlanta
- College of Saint Benedict, St. Joseph, Minn.
- Duke University, Durham, N.C.
- Fisk University, Nashville, Tenn.
- Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, Tallahassee
- Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta
- Hampton University, Hampton, Va.
- Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
- New York University, New York
- North Carolina A&T State University, Greensboro, N.C.
- Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pa.
- Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, Texas
- Princeton University, Princeton, N.J.
- Rice University, Houston
- Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif.
- Southern University and A&M College, Baton Rouge, La.
- Southwestern University, Georgetown, Texas
- Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pa.
- Tuskegee University, Tuskegee Ala.
- University of Colorado at Boulder
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- University of Maryland, Baltimore County
- University of Maryland, College Park
- University of North Texas, Denton
- University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
- University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa.
- University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez
- University of Texas at Arlington
- University of Texas at El Paso
- University of Washington, Seattle
- Villanova University, Villanova, Pa.
- Washington University, St. Louis

This program and the agency's other college and university programs support
NASA's goal of investing in students to develop the skills and capabilities
critical to creating a strong workforce for NASA and the nation.

The MUST project is managed at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland and
administered by a consortium of the Hispanic College Fund, the United Negro
College Fund Special Programs and the Society for Hispanic Professional
Engineers. For more information about the MUST project visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/offices/education/programs/descriptions/Motivating_Undergraduates_Science_Technology.html

For more information about NASA's Education programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/education

SOURCE NASA

Stephanie Schierholz, Headquarters, Washington, +1-202-358-4997,
stephanie.schierholz@nasa.gov, or Jeannette P. Owens, Glenn Research Center,
Cleveland, +1-216-433-2990, jeannette.p.owens@nasa.gov, both of NASA