Synopsis of Program: The fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) hold much promise as sectors of the economy where we can expect to see continuous vigorous growth in the coming decades. STEM job creation is expected to outpace non-STEM job creation significantly, according to the Commerce Department, reflecting the importance of STEM knowledge to the US economy. The National Science Foundation (NSF) plays a leadership role in developing and implementing efforts to enhance and improve STEM education in the United States. Through the NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) initiative, the agency continues to make a substantial commitment to the highest caliber undergraduate STEM education through a Foundation-wide framework of investments. The IUSE: EDU is a core NSF STEM education program that seeks to promote novel, creative, and transformative approaches to generating and using new knowledge about STEM teaching and learning to improve STEM education for undergraduate students. The program is open to application from all institutions of higher education and associated organizations. NSF places high value on educating students to be leaders and innovators in emerging and rapidly changing STEM fields as well as educating a scientifically literate public. In pursuit of this goal, IUSE: EDU supports projects that seek to bring recent advances in STEM knowledge into undergraduate education, that adapt, improve, and incorporate evidence-based practices into STEM teaching and learning, and that lay the groundwork for institutional improvement in STEM education. In addition to innovative work at the frontier of STEM education, this program also encourages replication of research studies to produce deeper knowledge about the effectiveness and transferability of findings. IIUSE: EDU also seeks to support projects that have high potential for broader societal impacts, including professional development for instructors to ensure adoption of new and effective pedagogical techniques that meet the changing needs of students, and projects that promote institutional partnerships for collaborative research and development. For all the above objectives, the National Science Foundation invests primarily in evidence-based and knowledge-generating approaches to understand and improve STEM learning and learning environments and prepare STEM majors for the workforce. In addition to contributing to STEM education in the host institution(s), pro
Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Directorate for STEM Education (IUSE: EDU)
U.S. National Science Foundation lists this opportunity for marked unrestricted. Review the coded eligibility, award range, source synopsis, and official notice before deciding whether to apply.
Deadline
January 20, 2027
91 days remaining
Award range
$200,000–$2,000,000
$61,000,000 estimated program funding
Applicant signal
Marked unrestricted
the official notice controls eligibility
- 99 — Unrestricted; subject to the official eligibility clarification
These are high-level Grants.gov codes. Additional eligibility text, geographic restrictions, and program-specific rules in the official notice can narrow them.
- Confirm entity eligibility in the full Notice of Funding Opportunity.
- Check SAM.gov and Grants.gov registration requirements and timing.
- Read every attachment for matching, cost-share, geography, and award conditions.
- Verify the exact deadline time and any agency-specific submission portal.
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Source: Grants.gov daily XML extract, 2026-10-21 extract. This page reproduces selected public listing fields for research convenience. The official Notice of Funding Opportunity and agency instructions control. This product uses the Grants.gov API but is not endorsed or certified by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.