Who do REUs help? Results from Surveys of NSF REU Students and Two-Year College Faculty

A major NSF goal in funding Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REUs) is reaching students with limited access to research, such as students from two-year colleges. Many such students have family and home circumstances that may impact their access to REUs. We surveyed (1) current REU students about their family and home circumstances and (2) two-year college faculty about whether they would recommend REUs to their students, and why. We present our preliminary results and their relevance to REU design and recruitment.