Strengthening Academic Achievement while Cultivating Community

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A federally funded program in the Department of Computer Science is showing that although good grades are often the most widely recognized expression of student success, well-being and belonging are part of the equation, too.

The program, known as the Path to Achieving Success and Sense of Belonging in Computer Science (PASS-CS), offers financial support and enrichment opportunities to computer science majors who are eligible for federal Pell Grants. A third of the way into the program’s six-year timeline, data and anecdotes alike show strong academic achievement and personal well-being among the 20 students participating in the program so far.

“Two years after this program started, there is evidence that these students are really impacted positively,” says Rodica Neamtu, professor of teaching and principal investigator (PI) of the $2.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation.

While “Pell eligible” refers most directly to financial need, Neamtu explains that these students also face other barriers to success. Notably, many are first-generation college students and often lack role models at home who are able to guide their path to, and through, college.

The obstacles Pell recipients navigate tend to contribute to lower graduation rates. Nationwide, among students who started at a four-year college in 2018, approximately 49% of Pell recipients graduated within six years, compared to nearly 69% of their non-Pell peers. At WPI, while 90% of non-Pell undergraduates who started in 2018 graduated in six years, the figure dropped to just below 85% for Pell recipients. Neamtu notes that so far among the PASS-CS participants, “retention is 100% and the feedback that students are giving is that they’re thriving.”

Allowing strengths to flourish

Research into graduation and retention rates—coupled with an acknowledgement that, despite continued need for well-educated graduates, the computer science industry has historically been fairly homogenous and slow to embrace new viewpoints—prompted WPI faculty and staff to develop the PASS-CS program.

“To make WPI’s computer science domain more welcoming and help retain students, we identified the groups who might need a little more support, a little more engagement into the life of the department,” Neamtu says.

Data shows that Pell-eligible students are among those who could use support. In recent years, 76% of students who enter WPI as first-year computer science majors with a Pell award remain at WPI in their fourth year. That figure is 86% among non-Pell computer science majors—and 89% among undergrads in all majors across the university.

When students can say they feel that they belong, they can also feel that they are going to succeed.

Rodica Neamtu

Professor of Teaching, Department of Computer Science

“The question was never about Pell students’ ability. It was about whether we were creating an environment where those strengths could actually show up and flourish,” notes Debra Boucher, assistant dean of undergraduate studies and co-PI on the grant. “At WPI, where the pace is fast and the work is highly collaborative, we wanted to make sure students with those strengths had structured ways to connect, contribute, and see themselves as part of the CS community—because that community is richer when they’re fully in it.”

Since 2024, all incoming first-year students who plan to major in computer science and are eligible for Pell awards have been invited to apply to the PASS-CS program. Ten applicants were selected from each of the two most recent incoming first-year classes, based on who would be most likely to engage with the program and use the extra support. Although the grant’s final cohort will be chosen from this fall’s incoming class, Neamtu and her co-PIs are considering how to extend the program’s benefits by generalizing some aspects to all computer science students.

Each PASS-CS grant participant receives a $15,000 annual scholarship for four years. New cohort members also attend a three-day summer program that’s part academic review—helping students feel ready to start college-level math and computer science courses—and part community building—helping students develop connections with their peers in the program and with participating math and computer science faculty.

During the school year those faculty members host informal weekly drop-in sessions and workshops on topics ranging from summer research opportunities and resume writing to tips for working on teams.

Everything covered in the sessions is public information and available to all WPI students. But, notes Emma Normand ’28, “you can’t look for information if you just don’t know what exists.” In that way, she says, PASS-CS is “basically giving us the best possible chance to succeed.”

Developing confidence and connections

By participating in everything the program has to offer—including working with the first-year PASS-CS cohort as a “near-peer mentor”—Normand, now a sophomore, is expanding the network of relationships she began building last year. She’s also gaining confidence and refining her career goals.

“I’m helping the newer students with computer science, of course, but if they’re having trouble on campus and they need advice, I love being able to tell them, ‘This is the secret. This is how you need to do it,’” she says. “I also realized that even though I don’t want to be a teacher, I do really like helping people, and I’m definitely more open to jobs in that area.”

Seeking help from student mentors like Normand has been easy for first-year student Aaryana Gant ’29, who has also enjoyed getting to know the professors in the PASS-CS program. “I know there’s always someone I can go to for help,” she says.

Students are consistently recognized as emerging professionals—not students who need fixing, but people with ideas and perspectives worth engaging. That framing matters.

Debra Boucher

Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Studies

Thanks to the coursework Gant did at Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational High School, she came to WPI with a solid computer science foundation. Still, she adds, “sometimes I know what we should be doing but don’t understand how or why, so I go and talk to the professor and they break it down for me.”

Having students develop rapport with faculty is a goal of the program, says Boucher. “Students are consistently recognized as emerging professionals—not students who need fixing, but people with ideas and perspectives worth engaging. That framing matters,” she adds. “Students know that their experience and voice count with each other and with the faculty and staff that make up the PASS-CS team.”

That kind of personal and professional growth is hard to quantify because it’s “not directly measurable. But even hearing somebody say ‘I see myself as a computer scientist’ or ‘I see myself graduating’ shows they feel supported,” says Neamtu. “When students can say they feel that they belong, they can also feel that they are going to succeed.”

Several faculty members from across the university are actively engaged with the PASS-CS grant through program design and implementation, student advising, and more: Crystal Brown, co-PI and assistant professor in the Department of Social Science and Policy Studies; from the Department of Computer Science, Matthew Ahrens (assistant teaching professor), Lane Harrison (associate professor), and Erin Solovey (associate professor); and from the Department of Mathematical Sciences, Francesca Bernardi (assistant professor) and Keenan Kidwell (assistant professor of teaching). Nicole Asbridge in the Office of Undergraduate Studies provides administrative support.