Micron STEM Opportunity Fund

ExLENT is NSF's experiential-learning workforce program, and the AI angle here is applied rather than research: it funds paid, hands-on training pathways into artificial intelligence, biotechnology, quantum and advanced manufacturing jobs, not laboratory work on AI methods. Awards run up to USD 1,000,000 per educator-led team for up to three years. The most recent cycle put nearly USD 38,000,000 into 46 teams, part of nearly USD 87,000,000 committed across all cycles announced to date, with the Micron Foundation co-investing alongside NSF - a corporate-federal pairing that is worth noting because it signals employer demand as an explicit design constraint on funded programs. The structural requirement is cross-sector partnership: awardees connect employers and industry partners in critical and emerging technologies with nonprofit and educational entities, and the resulting programs deliver classroom-based learning and paid work-based internships oriented toward industry-approved certifications. Recent cycles have added explicit funding for K-12 student engagement in AI skills development, extending the program's reach below the postsecondary level. Participation is deliberately broad on the learner side - the program welcomes people with varying levels of prior STEM exposure, and past cohorts have included veterans and career-changers moving into high-skill roles. Eligible applicants are nonprofits and institutions of higher education. Deadlines follow NSF's published solicitation cycle rather than a fixed annual date, so prospective applicants should track the current ExLENT solicitation on nsf.gov.