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United States policy aims to bolster a declining interest in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), professions. This disinterest is especially notable in women, Latinx, Black and Indigenous people who make up first-generation Americans attending college. Removing barriers for those under-represented in the STEM professions could sustain a pipeline of undergraduates, and challenge inequity in cultural diversity in the STEM workforce. This study examines one program and its impact on transfer students in their pursuit of STEM careers. This is a qualitative analysis from 57 interviews of transfer students from community colleges into biological studies at a four-year university. Data were transcribed and coded, with the codes presented as evidence for themes that repeated within and across interviews. Codes and themes were analyzed to detect patterns in student views over four years. Results confirm the importance of financial and structural support as necessary but not sufficient to contradict the societal biases that contribute to low interest. Data support the importance of student views of the gender and disposition of faculty in the retention of students under-represented in STEM studies. The results are discussed in the context of two theories Stereotype Threat and the Imposter Syndrome.