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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The University of Utah will spend $2 million in the next five years recruiting more engineering students to the school.
The National Science Foundation awarded the university a grant to pay for the effort, which began Sept. 1. The school's goal is to increase the number of students graduating with engineering degrees from 360 to 540 in the next five years.
Some of the efforts include establishing a summer engineering camp for high school students, having college engineering students visit high schools and mentoring existing college engineering students.
The university will also make special efforts to attract women and minorities into its engineering program. Only about four percent of students enrolled in engineering are minorities while 10 percent of the program's students are women.
Utah's booming economy is short 1,000 engineers, say officials who plan to start recruiting more of the trained professionals next month. State employment figures show engineers in most fields make $50,000 to $75,000 a year. Chemical engineers can make six-figure salaries.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
