BETHLEHEM, Pa. (AP): Northampton Community College will start offering scholarships to lure low-income, minority and women students who are underrepresented in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields.

Two National Science Foundation grants totaling nearly $700,000 will be devoted to addressing the shortages, NCC President Arthur Scott announced Wednesday.

``The group that is most underrepresented ... is women, but there are also large gaps for African-Americans and for Hispanics in specific majors,'' college spokeswoman Heidi Butler said.

There are no black students in NCC’s chemistry, chemical technology and math/physics programs, for example, Butler said. But she said the potential for improvement is strong, ``because we have more minority students ... than other colleges in the region. We're two-thirds women, and these are all underrepresented groups in this field.''

The college plans to award 54 scholarships over three years, and use money from the NSF grants for outreach and academic support services and mentoring for the students who are recruited.

Information from: The Express-Times, http://www.lehighvalleylive.com