NSF S-STEM
NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Agency
Dates
- Deadline March 4, 2024
- Internal LOI due December 1, 2024
Summary
At its core, the S-STEM program seeks to increase the success of domestic (citizens or permanent resident) low-income students with academic ability, talent or potential and demonstrated financial need who are pursuing associate, baccalaureate, or graduate degrees in eligible disciplines of strategic importance for the Nation. Currently, eligible degrees include those in all fields funded by NSF. as long as there is demand in the regional or national workforce for professionals with those degrees. The allowable maximum scholarship amount is up to $15,000 per year for undergraduate students (pursuing associate or bachelor's degrees) and up to $20,000 per year for graduate students (pursuing masters or Ph.Ds.). S-STEM remains a last-dollar scholarship. The maximum duration of an individual student's scholarship is five years per degree being pursued.
WVU is not eligible for Track 1 as we are a previous recipient of an S-STEM award
Track 2
Implementation: Single Institution or two institutional partnerships
Track 2 proposals have the same S-STEM goals as Track 1 proposals and may, in some cases, also include a focus on student transfer or progression to graduate school. In this case, if needed, two or more institutions could partner.
Track 2 projects must be led by a PI who is:
- a faculty member currently teaching in one of the S-STEM eligible disciplines being pursued by the targeted scholars, or
- an academic administrator who has taught in one of the eligible disciplines in the last two years from submission and can dedicate the time necessary to assure project success.
The leadership team should also include a STEM administrator (department head or above). Faculty members from all departments or academic units involved should have a role in the project either as Co-PIs, senior personnel, or scholar mentors. The project team could include, if appropriate, a non-teaching institutional, educational, or social science researcher to support evidence-based responses to items raised by the external evaluator through formative evaluation. This additional researcher cannot take the place of the external evaluator.
Track 3
Inter-institutional Consortia
Track 3 projects support multi-institutional collaborations that focus on a common interest or challenge. Inter-institutional Consortia projects represent diverse collaborations, including partnerships between two-year colleges and four-year colleges and universities, between four-year colleges and graduate programs, or between comparable institutions looking to implement and study parallel interventions. Track 3 projects have the same overall goals as Track 1 and 2 projects but seek to accomplish these goals at a very large scale by leveraging multi-institutional efforts and infrastructure.
Budgets
Proposals for Track 2 may request up to $2,000,000 total for up to six years. Track 3 proposals may request up to $5 million total for up to six years. In all Tracks at least 60% of all funds must be provided solely as pure scholarships to cover the cost of attendance and entered as Participant Support.
All Tracks should focus on:
- degrees in areas of regional or national need;
- establish scholar eligibility criteria;
- provide evidence-based, context-specific interventions linked to low-income student needs;
- and scholar cohorts and faculty mentoring.
Internal LOI Guidance
Please email WVU_Internal@mail.wvu.edu by December 1, 2024 with the subject line NSF S-STEM and provide the following information:
- Leadership Team, including institutional affiliations
- Discipline Focus
If there are more than two teams expressing interest, the RO will develop a downselect plan.