NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Program

Scholarship Sponsored by U.S. National Science Foundation

Think of the S‑STEM program as a two-part investment: it gives scholarships to talented, low‑income students pursuing STEM degrees, and it funds institutions to develop and study the kinds of curricular and co‑curricular supports that actually help those students persist and graduate.

Overview
- Purpose: Increase the number of academically promising, low‑income students who complete NSF‑relevant STEM degrees and enter the U.S. STEM workforce. NSF recognizes that money alone isn’t enough, so S‑STEM also supports evidence‑based activities that improve recruitment, retention, transfer (when appropriate), student success, and graduation.
- Who benefits: Domestic students with demonstrated academic ability or potential, who are low‑income and show unmet financial need, and who are enrolled in an associate, baccalaureate, or graduate degree in an S‑STEM‑eligible discipline.

What the awards fund
- Scholarships for eligible students.
- Development, implementation, and study of evidence‑supported curricular and co‑curricular programs (co‑curricular = activities pursued in addition to the normal course of study) that support recruitment, retention, transfer, career/academic pathways, and graduation in STEM.

Eligibility — scholars
- Must be U.S. domestic, low‑income, academically able or promising, and have unmet financial need.
- Must be enrolled in an eligible degree program in an S‑STEM discipline (see lists below).

Eligible degree programs
- Associate: AA, AS, AE, AAS
- Bachelor: BA, BS, BE, BAS
- Master: MA, MS, MEng
- Doctoral: PhD or comparable doctoral degrees

Eligible disciplines
- Disciplines and technology fields in which NSF funds research (for example: biotechnology, chemical technology, engineering technology, information technology, etc.).
- Note: Proposers should demonstrate how the field they target serves a critical national need if claiming that argument.

Excluded degrees and programs
- Clinical professional degrees not funded by NSF (e.g., MD, nursing, DVM, pharmacy, physical therapy) are ineligible.
- Programs aimed at STEM teacher certification or licensure already covered by the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship program (NOYCE) are ineligible.
- Business school undergraduate degrees (BABA/BSBA/BBA), and Masters or Doctoral degrees in Business Administration, are excluded.

Who can submit and institutional priorities
- Only certain types of organizations may submit proposals (consult the solicitation for the full list).
- NSF particularly encourages proposals from 2‑year colleges, predominantly undergraduate institutions, and public institutions in urban, suburban, and rural settings.
- Institutions may submit up to two proposals in which they directly provide scholarships for a given S‑STEM deadline. Those proposals must not overlap in the S‑STEM‑eligible disciplines they target.
- Institutions that currently hold an S‑STEM award should generally wait until at least the end of the third year of that award before submitting a new Track 2 or Track 3 proposal for the same discipline(s).

Award tracks, limits, and duration
- Track 1 — Institutional Capacity Building: up to $2,000,000 total; maximum duration 6 years.
- Track 2 — Implementation Projects: up to $2,000,000 total; maximum duration 6 years.
- Track 3 — Inter‑institutional Consortia: up to $5,000,000 total; maximum duration 6 years.

Other program details
- Estimated number of awards: 40–60 (subject to availability of funds).
- Proposers must provide an analysis describing the student population they intend to serve and justify the academic needs and strategies that will address those needs.
- If you’re unsure about degree or disciplinary eligibility, contact the Program Officers before submitting — they’re the best resource for questions.
- Read the full solicitation for additional eligibility information, submission instructions, and other requirements.

If you’d like, I can help you draft the section of a proposal that describes the student population you plan to serve, or outline possible evidence‑based activities that would strengthen a submission. Which would be most helpful?