STEM Core

You'll join a cohort of first-year students who meet twice weekly for your first year of college. In this group, you'll make academically supportive friends who share your passion for STEM, support you through the challenges of college, and celebrate your success! Where possible, we will guide you through signing up for classes together so you take courses with your friends and favorite study partners rather than in a sea of strangers.

Computer programing is helpful in all branches of science, technology, engineering, and math. No matter your career goals, coding skills can make you more employable! Most Fort Lewis College programming classes are unavailable to first-year students. STEM Core students benefit from the opportunity to learn these skills early. You’ll get to choose from languages like Python, R, and JavaScript, depending on your interests and major. Learning to code is fun, helps your future classes, and gives you a competitive edge when applying for internships!

STEM Core is the place for you whether you love or fear math! Our math study groups are a friendly place to explore mathematics together. We welcome all questions, no matter how basic, as an excellent opportunity to turn confusion into curiosity! We believe that every person can understand and enjoy mathematics. If you have found math to be painful, confusing, or boring in the past, we want to turn this around for you. STEM Core students don’t just survive mathematics…they thrive!

College students are so much more than just students. You are adults with jobs, families, commitments, and responsibilities. When life gets complicated, it’s nice to have someone on your side. In STEM Core, you’ll meet one-on-one with a dedicated Student Support Specialist for 30 minutes every other week to check in and see if there’s anything you need. Whether you’re worried about your grades, struggling with your mental health, aren’t sure where your next meal is coming from, or have a roommate situation that’s getting out of hand, your student support specialist can help you connect with the right resources to manage your situation.

STEM Core has partnerships with leading employers like NASA, National Renewable Energy Labs, Lockheed Martin, Los Alamos National Labs, and more. One of our regular STEM core activities is tuning into zoom meetings to meet employers from these companies and learning about their internships. A typical STEM Core internship pays $6,000 for 10 weeks of full-time employment in the summer. Students who complete Algebra, Pre-calculus, and basic computer programming through STEM Core are eligible to apply. Some students have landed internships after their very first year of college.

Did you know you can earn college credit for working on real research projects with your professors? We partner with FLC’s undergraduate research center to help students find research opportunities at home and abroad. We aim for you to get hands-on experience in your field as soon as possible. Some STEM Core students joined research projects during their first semester at FLC!

We strongly support the ability of all students to participate meaningfully in STEM, regardless of learning differences, neurodivergence, or physical ability. We believe in the capacity of every student to learn and grow, irrespective of their history or background. We welcome students of every gender identity and sexual orientation. We invite open, authentic, and respectful participation from students of every ethnicity, creed, and culture. We support students who are parents, veterans, or of non-traditional college age. We serve both full-time and part-time students. While citizenship status does affect eligibility for many of our internship opportunities, STEM Core membership is possible for all students regardless of nationality or citizenship status.