Category/Topic
Education
Level
Federal
Summary

The purposes of this program are 1) to increase the recruitment, retention, student success, and graduation (including student transfer) of low-income academically talented students with demonstrated financial need who are pursuing associate, baccalaureate, graduate degrees in STEM and enter the STEM workforce or graduate study; and 2) to implement and study models, effective practices, and/or strategies that contribute to understanding the factors of supportive curricular and co-curricular activities that affect recruitment, retention, student success, academic/career pathways, and/or degree attainment (including student transfer) in STEM of low-income academically talented students with demonstrated financial need; and 3) to contribute to the implementation and sustainability of effective curricular and co-curricular activities.

Eligible Entities
Academic Institutions
Eligibility Notes

Institutions of higher education in the United States and its territories that grant associate, baccalaureate, or graduate degrees in these disciplines: biological sciences (except medicine and other clinical fields);
physical sciences, including physics, chemistry, astronomy, and materials science; mathematical sciences;
computer and information sciences; geosciences; engineering; or technology areas associated with the preceding fields (for example, biotechnology, chemical technology, engineering technology, information technology, etc.).

Due Date
Sep 22, 2015
Due Date Notes

Second due date is May 16, 2016.

RFP Release Date
Jun 25, 2015
Min Award
$650,000
Max Award
$5,000,000
Total Possible Multi-Year Award
$5,000,000
# of Awards
60-80
Annual or Multi-Year?
Annual
Preliminary Items

The program will support up to $650,000 for Strand 1 – Institutional Capacity Building projects; and up to $1.0 million for Strand 2 – Design and Development Type 1 Single Institution projects. Of the total amount requested, at least 60% of the funds must support scholarships to low-income academically talented students with demonstrated financial need. Funds must be requested for high quality extant curriculum development and professional and workforce development activities that include the implementation and investigation of project activities and conducting project evaluation. The program also will support Strand 2 – Design and Development Type 2 multi- institutional collaborative efforts up to $5 million to fund scholarships and the implementation and testing of a common set of curricular and co-curricular activities across institutions. For these types of projects, at least 60% of the funds must support scholarships.

Match Required?
No
Funder
U.S. National Science Foundation
Total Amount Available for All Grants
$70,000,000
Competition Notes

Proposals will be evaluated on intellectual merits and potential broader impacts. Emphasis will be placed on student support infrastructure, management plan, evidence of broad faculty participation, justification of the number and amount of scholarships requested based on current student demographics.

Resources
Connie K. Della-Piana, telephone: (703) 292-5309, email: cdellapi@nsf.gov

Paul Tymann, telephone: (703) 292-2260, email: ptymann@nsf.gov

John Krupczak, telephone: (703) 292-4647, email: jkrupcza@nsf.gov
Opportunity Posting or Webpage
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