§ 637.4 What definitions apply to the Minority Science and Engineering Improvement Program?

(a) Definitions in EDGAR. The following terms used in this part are defined in 34 CFR part 77.

(b) Definitions that apply to this part:

Accredited means currently certified by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or making satisfactory progress toward achieving accreditation.

Act means the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended.

Minority means American Indian, Alaskan Native, black (not of Hispanic origin), Hispanic (including persons of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Central or South American origin), Pacific Islander or other ethnic group underrepresented in science and engineering.

Minority institution means an accredited college or university whose enrollment of a single minority group or a combination of minority groups as defined in this section exceeds fifty percent of the total enrollment. The Secretary verifies this information from the data on enrollments (Higher Education General Information Surveys HEGIS XIII) furnished by the institution to the Office for Civil Rights, Department of Education.

Science means, for the purposes of this program, the biological, engineering, mathematical, physical, behavorial and social sciences, and the history and philosophy of science; also included are interdisciplinary fields which are comprised of overlapping areas among two or more sciences.

Underrepresented in science and engineering means a minority group whose number of scientists and engineers per 10,000 population of that group is substantially below the comparable figure for scientists and engineers who are white and not of Hispanic origin.

[46 FR 51204, Oct. 16, 1981, as amended at 52 FR 43544, Nov. 12, 1987; 65 FR 7675, Feb. 15, 2000]