Nearly half of the incoming undergraduates to one of Boston University’s academic programs next year will find financing their college tuition may be easier than anticipated.

Up to 100 freshmen enrolled in Metropolitan College’s full-time Science and Engineering Program will receive partial scholarships over the next five years, thanks to a $500,000 grant awarded by the National Science Foundation.

“The grant shows our commitment to the sciences and particularly to engineering,” MET Dean Jay Halfond said. “We have an important alternative model for how the first couple of years of science education is conducted.”

During the next five years, SEP will research ways to retain students in the science and engineering fields, because earlier studies have shown students often leave these fields at the beginning of their undergraduate careers.

“The research is looking at how we can create a community within a separate program to make sure students succeed academically,” SEP Chairwoman Carla Romney said.

SEP is a two-year, full-time undergraduate program. After completing the program, SEP students pursue either a College of Engineering Bachelor of Science degree or a College of Arts and Sciences Bachelor of Arts degree.

The program offers smaller classes, more instructional hours and more student-faculty interaction than traditional science and engineering programs, Halfond said.

“Our goal is to help students succeed, not weed them out,” he said.

NSF Program Director Duncan McBride said the Science and Engineering Program’s proposal stood out to the organization because of its alternative model for teaching.

He said the research and scholarship plan Romney and her team proposed to the organization stood out as the “whole package.”

“It made clear the difference between just giving students money and actually encouraging them to succeed,” he said.

“One big problem we see is that students feel the need to participate in non-academic activities to finance their education,” she said. “This will minimize the need for the outside activities that students often take on to support themselves.”

Halfond said he hopes the grant will bring a more diverse group of students to SEP, including women and minorities.

For those SEP scholarship recipients who continue to meet academic merit and financial need requirements, BU will provide scholarships beyond freshman year.

Ultimately, the university, along with the NSF grant, will contribute approximately $1.6 million to SEP.