Great Minds/CoMPASS Scholar Program

Great Minds/CoMPASS (GMC) or CoMPASS is a scholarship program for low income, academically talented, first-generation students from Worcester Public Schools (WPS) that provides orientation and navigation in attending and graduating from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI).

GMC Scholars have a network of support at WPI designed to ensure the academic, personal, cultural, and professional success of the students.

This network of support includes but is not limited to:

Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Multicultural Education
GMC Scholar Support Team
Connections Pre-Orientation Program
First Generation Success Program
Academic Advising Office
Insight Program

GMC Scholars Social (March 2022)

GMC Scholars Social (November 2022)

GMC Scholars Social (March 2022)

There are currently twenty (20) scholars enrolled in the Great Minds/CoMPASS Scholars (GMC) program at WPI across two (2) cohorts in the Class of 2024 and the Class of 2025. These two cohorts are under a study supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

The grant principal investigators (PI) Dr. Funmi Ayobami, Assistant Teaching Professor in Biomedical Engineering and Dr. Kathy Chen, Executive Director, STEM Education Center along with the GMC Scholar Support team is monitoring each of the students’ learning, academic outcomes, research, campus involvement, and professional development as they matriculate through WPI.

Additionally, these 20 scholars are provided wraparound programming support from the Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Multicultural Education (ODIME).

The CoMPASS scholarship was designed to provide additional financial support for GMC Scholars who come to WPI receiving the Great Minds Scholarship. The Great Minds Scholarship fully covers tuition and fees for select students while the CoMPASS grant funded scholarship covers housing and a meal plan for scholars.

The proposal is designed to support the first-generation STEM scholars through a residential student experience with the hope of producing outcomes to enhance programs and services currently offered by WPI once the grant cycle has run its course.

Great Minds CoMPASS Scholars Social (November 2022)