According to the National Science Foundation, “AGEP is a network of universities dedicated
to increasing the number of underrepresented minorities obtaining graduate degrees
in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
The National Science Foundation funds the Alliances for Graduate Education and the
Professoriate (AGEP) program. The primary goals of AGEP are to (a) significantly increase
the number of underrepresented minorities (i.e., African Americans, Hispanics, American
Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians or other Pacific Islanders) obtaining
graduate degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), and (
b) enhance the preparation of underrepresented minorities for faculty positions in
academia.
AGEP employs a strategy of supporting alliances of doctoral-granting institutions
to accomplish these goals. The alliances, in turn, employ creative administrative
strategies, develop infrastructure, and engage in substantive partnerships with predominately
undergraduate institutions (many minority-serving institutions) to enhance recruitment,
retention, and advancement. The effectiveness of the AGEP approach can be attributed
to a variety of factors, including leveraging of shared resources, thinking creatively
to produce more supportive and proactive graduate infrastructure, and committing to
attain ambitious goals with respect to increasing minority doctoral degree production.”
