Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google


NASA Awards $17 Million To Encourage STEM Ed at Community, Technical Colleges

NASA's Office of Education has selected 35 space grant consortia to share in more than $17.3 million in grants designed to improve student and instructor engagement in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education at community and technical colleges. The two-year grants are each capped at $500,000.

"Winning proposals outlined ways to attract and retain more students from community and technical colleges in STEM curricula, develop stronger collaborations to increase student access to NASA's STEM education content, and increase the number of students who advance from an associate to a bachelor's degree," according to a NASA news release.

Examples of winning projects include:

  • The California Space Grant Consortium's plan to improve STEM preparation at 12 community colleges through a distance learning course for students and faculty. The course will cover topics such as "programmable microcomputers, near-space ballooning, small satellites, autonomous ground robots and wearable sensor vests for sports and health monitoring," according to information released by NASA;
  • Colorado's Space Grant Consortium will take on four community college campuses as affiliates. Students and faculty at the schools will design, build and launch high-altitude balloon payloads and students will be eligible for scholarships, internships with NASA and to participate in the RockOn! workshop;
  • The North Carolina Space Grant Consortium will offer competitive, community college-level scholarships in an effort "attract and retain students through graduation and/or matriculation into four-year universities," according to a news release. The group will also create a team design challenge using NASA materials.

For a full list of winners and their abstracts, visit go.nasa.gov.

About the Author

Joshua Bolkan is contributing editor for Campus Technology, THE Journal and STEAM Universe. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • laptop displaying a red padlock icon sits on a wooden desk with a digital network interface background

    Malware Turns Microsoft 365 Calendar Into Covert Attack Vector

    Security researchers at Group-IB have uncovered a Windows malware strain that turns Microsoft 365 calendars into covert channels for receiving commands and stealing files from targeted organizations.

  • Abstract neural network 3D illustration

    Intel® AI EmpowerED: The AI-Ready Campus, Delivered

    Artificial intelligence is transforming higher education, prompting institutions to rethink how they manage infrastructure, security, governance, and workforce readiness. Successful adoption requires a strategic, institution-wide approach that aligns AI initiatives with educational goals, faculty enablement, and scalable operational frameworks.

  • Blue Cloud Floating on Top of Circuit Board

    Survey: Organizations Moving AI Workloads Away from Public Cloud

    A new Cloudera survey of 1,500 enterprise technology leaders found widespread AI-driven architecture changes, with governance problems, rising infrastructure costs, and workload placement pushing organizations toward more hybrid approaches.

  • woman

    AI Giants Back Nonprofit Focused on Workforce Transition

    The AI industry's biggest names are investing in more than just models and infrastructure — they're focusing on workforce readiness. OpenAI, Anthropic, Microsoft and Amazon are backing Raise US, a new nonprofit that aims to raise $1 billion to help American workers prepare for an AI-driven economy.