DISTANCE LEARNING CENTER (DLC) WAS INCORPORATED IN 1990 AS A 501 C 3 NON-PROFIT CORPORATION TO SPEARHEAD THE STEMPREP PROJECT, A VEHICLE FOR PRODUCING THE NEXT GENERATION OF MINORITY RESEARCHERS IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, MATH (STEM) AND MEDICINE. FROM THE BEGINNING, THE DLC DESIGNATED ITS TARGET POPULATION AS BEING THOSE MINORITY GROUPS WHO WILL BECOME THE EMERGING MAJORITY IN THE U.S. BY 2050, BUT WHO AT PRESENT ARE UNDERREPRESENTED IN STEM DISCIPLINES: AFRICAN-AMERICANS, MEXICAN-AMERICANS, NATIVE AMERICANS, NATIVE HAWAIIANS AND MAINLAND PUERTO RICANS. THE ORIGINAL MISSION OF THE DLC WAS TO DEVELOP INNOVATIVE TRAINING CONCEPTS, IMPLEMENT COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAMS, AND TO FUND RAISE TO SUPPORT PROGRAMS FOR THESE UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITY GROUPS. THE BACKBONE OF THE DLC HAS BEEN ITS POOL OF VOLUNTEERS WHO HAVE GIVEN OF THEIR TIME TO CREATE A NEW TRAINING PARADIGM BASED ON AN EARLY START MODEL, A LONGITUDINAL TRAINING CONTINUUM AND A MULTI-INSTITUTIONAL MENTORSHIP APPROACH