Official funding announcement — preliminary draft
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation
Opportunity number: 25-514
Official listed status: posted
Closing information: 2027-03-02 (official deadline clock time and time zone must be checked in NOFO)
Award disclosure: Official federal synopsis lists an award ceiling of 5,000,000; applicant-level applicability requires full-NOFO review.
Applicant categories in federal synopsis: Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)
Federal synopsis
The main goal of the S-STEM program is to enable academically talented, low-income students to pursue successful careers in promising STEM fields. Ultimately, the S-STEM program seeks to increase the number of academically promising low-income students who graduate with an S-STEM eligible degree and contribute to the American innovation economy with their STEM knowledge. Recognizing that financial aid alone cannot increase retention and graduation in STEM, the program provides awards to institutions of higher education (IHEs) not only to fund scholarships, but also to adapt, implement, and study evidence-based curricular and co-curricular[a] activities that have been shown to be effective in supporting recruitment, retention, transfer (if appropriate), student success, academic/career pathways, and graduation in STEM. To be eligible, scholars must be domestic low-income students with academic ability, talent, or potential and demonstrated unmet financial need who are enrolled in an associate, baccalaureate, or graduate degree program in an S-STEM eligible discipline. Proposers must provide an analysis that articulates the characteristics and academic needs of the population of students they are trying to serve. NSF is particularly interested in supporting the attainment of degrees in fields identified as critical needs for the Nation. It is up to the proposer to make a compelling case that such a field serves a critical need in the United States. [a] an activity at a school or college pursued in addition to the normal course …
Draft intake record. Eligibility, program terms, current amendments and applicant ceiling must be independently verified before publishing.