National Science Foundation (NSF) Offering Scholarships in STEM for Low-Income Academically Talented Students

*Who May Serve as PI:

For Track 1 (Institutional Capacity Building) and Track 2 (Design and Development: Single Institution) projects, the Principal Investigatormust be a faculty member currently teaching inan S-STEM eligible discipline who can provide the leadership required to ensure the success of the project. Projects involving more than one department within an institution are eligible, but a single Principal Investigator must accept overall management and leadership responsibility. Other members of the S-STEM seniorproject leadership and management team may be listed as Co-Principal Investigators.

For Track 3 (Design and Development: Multi-Institutional Consortia) projects, the Principal Investigatormust be a faculty member currently teaching inan S-STEM eligiblediscipline or an institutional, educational, or social science researcher who can provide the leadership required to ensure the success of the project. A consortium projectmust have a Principal Investigator who accepts overall management and leadershipresponsibility. Other members of the S-STEM senior project leadership and management team may be listed as Co-Principal Investigators or PIs on collaborative research proposals.

Recognizing that financial aid alone cannot increase retention and graduation in STEM, the program provides awards to Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) to fund scholarships and to advance the adaptation, implementation, and study of effective evidence-based curricular and co-curricular activities that support recruitment, retention, transfer (if appropriate), student success, academic/career pathways, and graduation in STEM. The S-STEM program encourages collaborations among different types of participating groups, including but not limited topartnerships among different types of institutions; collaborations of STEM faculty and institutional, educational, and social science researchers; and partnerships among institutions of higher education and business, industry, local community organizations, national labs, or other federal or state government organizations,if appropriate.

The program seeks to 1) increase the number of low-income academically talented students with demonstrated financial need obtaining degrees in S-STEM eligibledisciplinesand entering the workforce or graduate programs in STEM; 2) improve the education of future scientists, engineers, and technicians, with a focus on low-income academically talented students with demonstrated financial need; and 3) generate knowledge to advance understanding of howinterventions or evidence-based curricular and co-curricular activities affect the success, retention, transfer, academic/career pathways, and graduation of low-income students in STEM.

Scholars must be low-income, academically talented students with unmet financial need who areenrolled in an associate, baccalaureate or graduate degree program, with a major in an S-STEMeligible discipline.

Note that programs in business schools that lead to Bachelor of Arts or Science in Business Administration degrees (BABA/BSBA) are not eligible for S-STEM funding. Proposers are strongly encouraged to contact Program Officers before submitting a proposal if they have questions concerning degree eligibility.

The S-STEM program particularly encourages proposals from 2-year institutions, Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), tribal colleges and universities, and urban and ruralpublic institutions.