Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Education and Human Resources (IUSE)
Quick Facts
- Agency
- National Science Foundation
- Funding
- $300,000 - $3,000,000
- Deadline
- Rolling (Rolling / Open)
- Status
- Active
- Eligibility
- Two-year and four-year institutions of higher education
About This Grant
Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Education and Human Resources (IUSE) is sponsored by National Science Foundation. Directly funds professional development and curriculum redesign for AI and computing education at universities to foster AI-native project capabilities. This program should be reviewed carefully against your organization's mission, staffing capacity, timeline, and compliance readiness before you commit resources to a full application. Strong submissions usually translate sponsor priorities into concrete objectives, clear implementation milestones, and measurable public benefit.
For planning purposes, treat rolling deadlines or periodic funding windows as your working submission target unless the sponsor publishes an updated notice. A competitive project plan should include a documented need statement, implementation approach, evaluation framework, risk controls, and a realistic budget narrative. Even when a grant allows broad program design, reviewers still expect credible evidence that the proposed work can be executed within the grant period and with appropriate accountability.
Current published award information indicates $300,000 - $3,000,000 Organizations should verify the final funding range, matching requirements, and allowability rules directly in the official opportunity materials before preparing a budget. Finance and program teams should align early so direct costs, indirect costs, staffing assumptions, procurement timelines, and reporting obligations all remain consistent throughout drafting and post-award administration.
Eligibility guidance for this opportunity is: Two-year and four-year institutions of higher education If your organization has partnerships, subrecipients, or collaborators, define responsibilities and compliance ownership before submission. Reviewers often look for implementation credibility, so letters of commitment, prior performance evidence, and a clear governance model can materially strengthen the application narrative and reduce concerns about delivery risk.
A practical approach is to begin with a focused readiness review, then build a workback schedule from the sponsor deadline. Confirm required attachments, registration dependencies, and internal approval checkpoints early. This reduces last-minute issues and improves submission quality. For the most accurate requirements, always rely on the official notice and primary source links associated with Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Education and Human Resources (IUSE).
Official Opportunity Details
Extracted from the official opportunity page/RFP to help you evaluate fit faster.
Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Directorate for STEM Education (IUSE: EDU) | NSF - U. S. National Science Foundation An official website of the United States government Official websites use .
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Research Experiences for Undergraduates For Early-Career Researchers Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) How We Make Funding Decisions Request a Change to Your Award Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) NSF Public Access Repository Who to Contact With Questions Facilities and Infrastructure Updates on NSF Priorities Our Directorates & Offices Biological Sciences (BIO) Computer & Information Science & Engineering (CISE) Integrative Activities (OIA) International Science & Engineering (OISE) Mathematical & Physical Sciences (MPS) Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences (SBE) Technology, Innovation & Partnerships (TIP) National Center for Science & Engineering Statistics (NCSES) National Science Board (NSB) Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Directorate for STEM Education (IUSE: EDU) Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Directorate for STEM Education (IUSE: EDU) NSF's implementation of the revised 2 CFR NSF Financial Assistance awards (grants and cooperative agreements) made on or after October 1, 2024, will be subject to the applicable set of award conditions, dated October 1, 2024, available on the NSF website .
These terms and conditions are consistent with the revised guidance specified in the OMB Guidance for Federal Financial Assistance published in the Federal Register on April 22, 2024.
Important information for proposers All proposals must be submitted in accordance with the requirements specified in this funding opportunity and in the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) that is in effect for the relevant due date to which the proposal is being submitted. It is the responsibility of the proposer to ensure that the proposal meets these requirements.
Submitting a proposal prior to a specified deadline does not negate this requirement.
Updates to NSF Research Security Policies On July 10, 2025, NSF issued an Important Notice providing updates to the agency's research security policies, including a research security training requirement, Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Program annual certification requirement, prohibition on Confucius institutes and an updated FFDR reporting and submission timeline.
Supports projects to improve STEM teaching and learning for undergraduate students, including studying what works and for whom and how to transform institutions to adopt successful practices in STEM education. Supports projects to improve STEM teaching and learning for undergraduate students, including studying what works and for whom and how to transform institutions to adopt successful practices in STEM education.
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 at different types of institutions and with different student bodies to produce deeper knowledge about the effectiveness and transferability of findings.
IUSE: EDU also seeks to support projects that have high potential for broader societal impacts, including improved diversity of students and instructors participating in STEM education, 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.
IUSE: EDU especially welcomes proposals that will pair well with the efforts of NSF INCLUDES ( https://www. nsf. gov/news/special_reports/nsfincludes/index.
jsp ) to develop STEM talent from all sectors and groups in our society. 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, improve the diversity of STEM students and majors, and prepare STEM majors for the workforce.
In addition to contributing to STEM education in the host institution(s), proposals should have the promise of adding more broadly to our understanding of effective teaching and learning practices. The IUSE: EDU program features two tracks: (1) Engaged Student Learning and (2) Institutional and Community Transformation.
Updates and announcements IUSE Center: A new program solicitation has been released For general inquiries, please contact IUSE@nsf. gov .
General inquiries may be addressed to: January 7, 2025 - IUSE Office Hours December 11, 2024 - IUSE Office Hours November 19, 2024 - IUSE Office Hours October 30, 2024 - IUSE Office Hours October 15, 2024 - IUSE Office Hours Awards made through this program Browse projects funded by this program Map of recent awards made through this program Directorate for STEM Education (EDU) Division of Undergraduate Education (EDU/DUE) Third Wednesday in July, Annually Thereafter Institutional and Community Transformation (Level 2) proposals and Engaged Student Learning (Level 2 and Level 3) proposals Due by 5pm submitting organization's local time The program estimates that approximately $61,000,000 will be available for new awards per fiscal year.
See section III below for further information about the anticipated number of awards in the program's two tracks and the average size and duration of awards. The estimated program budget, number of awards, and average award size/duration are subject to the availability of funds.
Estimated number of awards Estimated number of awards description The program estimates making awards for 50 Level 1 projects, 30 Level 2 and 3 projects, 15 Capacity-Building projects, and 40 conferences and workshops. Proposals may only be submitted by certain types of PIs. Please see solicitation for details.
Limit on number of proposals per PI or Co-PI Limit on number of proposals per PI or co-PI description An individual may serve as PI or co-PI on no more than three IUSE: EDU proposals submitted during the period of October 1 through September 30. This eligibility constraint will be strictly enforced. In the event that an individual exceeds this limit, proposals will be accepted based on earliest date and time of proposal submission (i.
e. , the first three proposals will be accepted and the remainder will be returned without review). No exceptions will be made.
Review full program guidelines and learn how to submit a proposal in the latest solicitation. Share on X (formerly known as Twitter) Our Directorates & Offices Budget, Performance & Financial Reporting
Eligibility Requirements
- Two-year and four-year institutions of higher education
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can apply for Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Education and Human Resources (IUSE)?
Based on current listing details, eligibility includes: Two-year and four-year institutions of higher education Applicants should confirm final requirements in the official notice before submission.
What is the typical funding level for Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Education and Human Resources (IUSE)?
Current published award information indicates $300,000 - $3,000,000 Always verify allowable costs, matching requirements, and funding caps directly in the sponsor documentation.
When is the deadline for Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Education and Human Resources (IUSE)?
The current target date is rolling deadlines or periodic funding windows. Build your timeline backwards from this date to cover registrations, approvals, attachments, and final submission checks.
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