According to the National Academy of Sciences (2007a), "Without the participation of individuals of all racial/ethnic backgrounds and genders, the increasing demand for workers in STEM fields will not be met, potentially compromising the position of the United States as a global leader" (p. 1). Increasing the participation and persistence of underrepresented minorities in STEM education adds to the number of STEM practitioners in the nation's STEM workforce. This study examines the effect of early exposure to STEM and enrollment in Advanced Placement (AP) and/or International Baccalaureate (IB) classes on the persistence of minority students in STEM education. Restricted access data from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS 2002) of the National Center for Education Statistics is used in this study specifically focusing on non-Hispanic African American and Hispanic students. ELS 2002 is a nationally representative longitudinal study of the transitions of 10th graders in 2002 as they move from secondary to postsecondary education and into the world of work and adulthood. The first of four self-reported survey collections occurred in the sophomore year of the respondents with three follow-ups resurveying in 2004, 2006 and 2012. The respondents in the ELS 2002 study included not only the students but their parents and guardians, school administrators, math teachers, and English teachers. High school and college transcripts of the students were also obtained as part of the longitudinal study. The results of this current study show that there is underrepresentation in STEM among non-Hispanic African American and Hispanic students in the United States. This study highlights the importance of disaggregated data by using individual logistic regression models for each studied race and an overall logistic regression model for all participants (all races) to compare the impacts of the examined predictors of STEM persistence. This study indicates that the impact of the examined predictors of STEM persistence varies from one race to another and differs from the impacts observed in the entire population when aggregated data is analyzed. Non-Hispanic African American students are strongly positively impacted by participation in Advanced Placement (AP) programs, while Hispanic students are positively impacted by participation in science fairs and by socioeconomic status in the third quartile. Non-Hispanic White students' STEM persistence is positively impacted by participation in Advanced Placement (AP) courses and school clubs. Non-Hispanic Asian students had the most positively impacting STEM persistence predictors: participation in International Baccalaureate (IB) courses, science fairs and school clubs. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]