The NSSP provides scholarships and research experiences to encourage minority and disadvantaged students to enter USDA research related professions. The USDA Forest Service Partnership is designed to bring together existing and new community resources to increase college enrollment and graduation of Hispanics and other minority and disadvantaged students in natural resources and related fields. They are provided with academic support and extracurricular activities that are designed to help the students successfully complete their undergraduate education and enter into graduate-level science and health professional school programs. Qualified students admitted into this program are concurrently registered at both universities but pay student fees only to the campus where they are in residence. There are minimum residence requirements by both universities.
Students can take courses at both campuses in person or through distance learning.
The curriculum is designed to provide an interdisciplinary education in life, physical, or social sciences directed towards the understanding and the solution of today's environmental problems. The B.S. in Environmental Science is pending approval. The college offers baccalaureate degree programs in mathematics and natural science that serve as waiver programs leading to the Single Subject Teaching Credential in Mathematics and Science. In science, a student can select the Single Subject Teaching Credential with an emphasis in Biology, Chemistry, Earth Science, or Physics. A cluster of intensive field courses is presented at the introductory level.