101 College St. project brings STEM scholarships

NEW HAVEN — Hill Regional Career High School senior Laila Mohammed said she wants to go to college for exercise science, get a doctorate and become a physical therapist.

The journey wouldn’t be so easy for her because of the financial standing of her family. Mohammed, who lives in the Hill area of the city, said she’s one of the four siblings who depend on her mother’s income.

“It’s just difficult to come up with the money for college because it is a lot of money so I’m trying to lower the costs or find a way to not pay at all,” she said, noting she would also be the first person in her family to go to college, only if she can secure some financial aid.

That’s why Mohammed is applying to a newly announced “Together We Grow/101 College Street Scholarship Fund” through which she could get up to $3,000 per year for up to two years studying in STEM-related programs at Gateway Community College, or up to $5,000 per year for up to four years in the BioPath program at Southern Connecticut State University.

SCSU President Joe Bertolino told Mohammed during Tuesday’s press conference that his university has an “exceptional” exercise science program with a new lab.

“But wherever you land, you’re going to be an exceptional student,” Bertolino said.

The $200,000 scholarship fund is a part of an agreement between the city and the bioscience project developer on 101 College St., a building that would consist of research labs and meeting spaces that would provide around 700-1,000 jobs.

New Haven Economic Development Administrator Michael Piscitelli said the city partnered with the New Haven Scholarship Fund to administer the fund and that details about the application process will go live this month, with the first cohort set to begin this fall.

Piscitelli said the program is available only for students within the Dwight, Hill and Downtown sections of the city.

“These are the neighborhoods that were cut off by the old Route 34 expressway and they’re now being reconnected in part through the growth of a bioscience ecosystem that has national significance,” Piscitelli said.

Carter Winstanley, a principal of Winstanley Enterprises, said the bioscience industry “has gotten incredible momentum.” He added that many companies have chosen New Haven as home and it’s important for the city to also be ready for them.

New Haven Superintendent of Schools Iline Tracey said many don’t understand how important the opportunity is for the city’s students but they can make life better for themselves and their family through the initiative. it.

“They deserve it,” Tracey said. “New Haven is a great place to be, the best place to be.”

Mohammed said she also wants to remain in New Haven as a physical therapist, specifically at a facility on Long Wharf where she has been going for the past four years and which she said piqued her interest in science, biology and anatomy.

“Even though $5,000 a year doesn’t seem like a lot of money, it’s a lot to me,” she said, noting she’s also looking for other scholarship opportunities because it wouldn’t probably be enough.

Terry Brown, CEO of Gateway Community College, said the scholarship is “a powerful statement” that goes beyond its financial aspects because the fund and the building will recognize young people’s talent — they demolish “financial barriers” some students face.

SCSU’s Bertolino said more than 85 percent of the university graduates stay and live in New Haven or Connecticut.