Objectives
The NSF S-STEM program provides universities the opportunities to establish scholarship programs for creating a high-quality STEM workforce and increasing the success of low-income academically talented students with demonstrated financial. This call is to establish programs supporting students pursuing associate, baccalaureate, or graduate degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
There are three distinct Tracks to support scholarship programs at varying levels.
- Track 1 – Institutional Capacity Building: build capacity and develop infrastructure to support low-income STEM students at institutions that have not had a recent award from the S-STEM program
- Track 2 – Implementation Single Institution: supporting a single institutional scholarship program
- Track 3 – Inter-institutional Consortia: support multi-institutional collaborations that focus on a common interest or challenge, including partnerships between 2- and 4-year colleges and universities, graduate programs, or between comparable institutions looking to implement parallel interventions
NSF is particularly interested in supporting the attainment of degrees in fields in which research is funded by NSF. The following degrees are eligible:
- Associate of Arts, Associate of Science, Associate of Engineering, and Associate of Applied Science
- Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Engineering and Bachelor of Applied Science
- Master of Arts, Master of Science, and Master of Engineering
- Doctoral (Ph.D. or other comparable doctoral degree)
The following degrees and disciplines are not S-STEM eligible:
- Clinical degree programs, including medical degrees, nursing, veterinary medicine, pharmacy, physical therapy, and others not funded by NSF
- Programs for STEM teacher certification or licensure currently covered by the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship program (NOYCE)
- Business school programs that lead to Bachelor of Arts or Science in Business Administration degrees (BABA/BSBA/BBA)
- Masters and Doctoral degrees in Business Administration
Funding Information
Award amounts vary by Track, but all are for a maximum of 6 years.
- Track 1 – projects may not exceed $2 million
- Track 2 – projects may not exceed $2 million
- Track 3 – projects may not exceed $5 million
Eligibility
PI eligibility is restricted by track as shown below.
Track 1 and 2
- PI must be a faculty member currently teaching in an S-STEM eligible discipline who can provide the leadership required to ensure the success of the project even if other departments are involved
- Faculty from all departments involved need to have roles in the project as either Co-PIs or senior personnel
- Other members of the S-STEM senior project leadership and management team may be listed as Co-PIs
Track 3
- PI must be a faculty member currently teaching in an S-STEM eligible discipline or an institutional, educational, or social science researcher who can provide the leadership required to ensure the success of the project.
- A consortium project must have a PI who accepts overall management and leadership responsibility.
- Faculty from all institutions and departments involved need to have roles in the project as either Co-PIs or senior personnel.
Other members of the S-STEM senior project leadership and management team may be listed as Co-PIs or as PIs on collaborative research proposals.
Internal Selection Process
BU may submit up to 2 proposals.
Interested applicants should submit the following materials via InfoReady Review by: 11/24/2025
- 2-page (maximum) Proposal Summary describing the proposed project’s aims, population/degrees it targets, and a rough idea of the benchmarks for the program
- List of Collaborators whether internal or external
- Up-to-date CV for the PI
As necessary, a faculty review committee will review internal applications and select the institutional nominees.
Deadlines
Internal Materials Due: Monday, November 24, 2025 by 11:59 pm ET
Anticipated Notification Date: Wednesday, December 17, 2025
External Materials Due: Tuesday, March 3, 2026