Community college students in Miami have a chance to earn microbiology degrees from UF without the six-hour drive.

The National Science Foundations undergraduate education division awarded to UF and Miami Dade College last month a $1.7 million grant to increase the number of students graduating with degrees in science, technology, engineering and math.

The foundation is looking for innovative ways to bring community college students, particularly minorities, to bigger universities for life science degrees, said grant writer Eric Triplett, chairman of the UF College of Agricultural and Life Sciences microbiology and cell science department.

[The foundation is] willing for people to take risks, he said.

The grant will expand the distance-learning program UF and Miami Dade faculty launched last Fall. Miami Dade is a full partner in the program, Triplett said.

Miami Dade students who earn an associate of arts degree there and get minimum grades in certain prerequisite courses are eligible for the program.

Almost all the microbiology courses are available online, Triplett said. Miami Dade students can also attend shortened lab sessions on UFs campus.

The five-year grant will fund 20 $1,250 scholarships each semester for students at Miami Dade, Triplett said. About 10 research stipends at UF labs throughout South Florida will also be available.

The grant will also provide career workshops to educate students about job options after graduating with a microbiology degree.

Theres more to life than medical school, Triplett said.

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