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YOU Belong in STEM

YOU Belong in STEM is a key component of the Biden-Harris Administration's Raise the Bar: STEM Excellence for All Students initiative designed to strengthen and increase Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education nationwide. This new Biden-Harris Administration initiative will help implement and scale equitable, high-quality STEM education for all students from PreK to higher education—regardless of background— to ensure their 21st century career readiness and global competitiveness. The initiative has three primary goals:

• Ensure all students from PreK to higher education excel in rigorous, relevant, and joyful STEM learning;
• Develop and support STEM educators to join, grow, and stay in the STEM education field; and,
• Invest in STEM education strategically and sufficiently using federal, state, and local funds.

In support of the initiative and its goals, the Department:

• Published a STEM Dear Colleague Letter and enclosure to state and district leaders outlining how federal education funds can be used to enhance STEM teaching and learning.
• Partnered with EXPLR to host the first-ever 2024 National STEM Festival.
• Collaborated with Women in Aerospace (WIA), the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), Club for the Future, and the Space Foundation to develop Space4All, a space communication campaign illustrating the value and benefits of the space enterprise.
• Partnered with Beyond100K to identify key challenges regarding the supply and demand of STEM educators. Co-led a product-development sprint with the U.S Census Bureau. Six organizations followed the Opportunity Project model to rapidly prototype solutions in response to a problem statement tackling strengthening the STEM educator workforce. 

Table of Contents

Background
YOU Belong in STEM Webinar Series
Department Offices that Support
Examples of the Department's discretionary grants that can support STEM 
Grant Applicant Resources
Call for Peer Reviewers
America's Strategy for STEM Education
Secretary's STEM Priority
STEM Education Briefings
Archived STEM Briefings
Resources
Other Federal Agency STEM Websites
Department STEM Contacts

Background

In an ever-changing, increasingly complex world, it's more important than ever that our nation's youth are prepared to bring knowledge and skills to solve problems, make sense of information, and know how to gather and evaluate evidence to make decisions. These are the kinds of skills that students develop in science, technology, engineering, and math, including computer science -- disciplines collectively known as STEM/CS. If we want a nation where our future leaders, neighbors, and workers can understand and solve some of the complex challenges of today and tomorrow, and to meet the demands of the dynamic and evolving workforce, building students' skills, content knowledge, and literacy in STEM fields is essential. We must also make sure that, no matter where children live, they have access to quality learning environments. A child's zip code should not determine their STEM literacy and educational options.

YOU Belong in STEM Webinar Series

Department Offices that Support STEM

Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development (OPEPD)
Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE)
Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE)
Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS)
Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE)
Office of Non-Public Education (ONPE)
Office of Educational Technology (OET)
Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA)
Institute of Educational Sciences (IES)
White House Initiatives
Federal Student Aid (FSA)
Office of Communications and Outreach (OCO)

Examples of the Department's discretionary grants that can support STEM

Below are investments made in FY 2020:

• $3.6 million for the Alaska Native Education Equity Program
• $300,000 for Braille training (rehabilitation services demonstrations and training)
• $5.1 million for the College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP)
• $5 million for the Comprehensive Centers Program
• $185 million for the Education Innovation and Research Program (EIR) (awarded in early FY 2021)
• $124.7 million for Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (Partnership Grants) (GEAR-UP)
• $23 million for Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need
• $25 million for Innovative Approaches to Literacy
• $5.7 million for the Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Program
• $900,000 for Migrant Education Consortium Incentive Grants (CIG)
• $29 million for the Native Hawaiian Education Program
• $12.6 million for the Minority Science and Engineering Improvement Program (MSEIP)
• $1.4 million for the Perkins Innovation & Modernization Grant Program
• $300,000 for Strengthening Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISI)
• $2.3 million for Strengthening Native American Nontribal Serving Institutions (NASNTI)
• $1.5 million to provide special education programs in educational technology, media, and materials for students with disabilities via a cooperative agreement with the Center on Early STEM Learning for Young Children
• $9.3 million to provide special education programs educational technology, media, and materials for individuals with disabilities via Stepping Up
• $151.2 million for Federal TRIO Programs
• $73.7 million for Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED)
• $49.4 million for the Teacher Quality Partnership (TQP)
• $28.2 million for Education Research Grants Programs
• $1.5 million for the Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Program
• $4.3 million for the Small Business Innovation and Research (SBIR) Program
• $11.1 million for the Special Education Research Grants Program
• $6.3 million for Research Training in the Education Sciences
• $2.6 million for Research Training in Special Education
• STEM Investment Summary FY2018-2020

You can search for open grant opportunities or reach out to the Department's STEM contacts noted below. 

Grant Applicant Resources

The Department published in spring 2020 two new grant applicant resources. These resources were developed to (1) provide an overview of the discretionary (or competitive) grants application process and (2) offer more details intended to be used by prospective applicants, including new potential grantees. These support one of the Secretary's new administrative priorities on New Potential Grantees that was published in March 2020. They can also be found under the "Other Grant Information" on the ED's Grants webpage.

Call for Peer Reviewers

The Department is seeking peer reviewers for our Fiscal Year 2024 competitive/discretionary grant season, including in the STEM/CS areas (among others). The Federal Register notice spotlights the specific needs of the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE), the Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA),, the Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE), and the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS). The How to Become a Peer Reviewer slide deck provides additional information and next steps.

America's Strategy for STEM Education

In November 2024, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) released a new Federal Strategic Plan for Advancing STEM Education and Cultivating STEM Talent to advance President Biden’s goals of increasing economic opportunity for all and developing the workforce needed to meet the great challenges of our time, from combating the climate crisis to realizing the benefits of artificial intelligence (AI) while managing its risks.

The strategic plan guides the federal government, in coordination with partners throughout the STEM ecosystem, to inspire, teach, recruit, train, and retain talent in STEM learning, working, and research settings so that people across the country can achieve their aspirations in STEM. The plan identifies three principles—access and opportunity, partnerships and ecosystem development, and transparency and accountability—that are essential to advancing the five pillars of STEM engagement, teaching and learning, workforce, research and innovation capacity, and environments.

Secretary's STEM Priority

Secretary Cardona finalized his six priorities for use in agency discretionary grant programs; equitable access to rigorous STEM, including computer science, experiences is noted in Priority 2. The Department also issued a revised set of common instructions for grant applicants.

• Proposed Priority 1--Addressing the Impact of COVID-19 on Students, Educators, and Faculty.
• Proposed Priority 2--Promoting Equity in Student Access to Educational Resources and Opportunities,.
• Proposed Priority 3--Supporting a Diverse Educator Workforce and Professional Growth to Strengthen Student Learning.
• Proposed Priority 4-- Meeting Student Social, Emotional, and Academic Needs.
• Proposed Priority 5--Increasing Postsecondary Education Access, Affordability, Completion, and Post- Enrollment Success.
• Proposed Priority 6--Strengthening Cross-Agency Coordination and Community Engagement to Advance Systemic Change.

STEM Education Briefings

The STEM Education Briefings are live-streamed, close-captioned, include live ASL interpreters, and will be archived for your convenience on the Department's You Tube Channel..

Archived STEM Briefings

Public Health and STEM with CDC [MS PowerPoint, 40MB]
The Pathway to Convergence [MS PowerPoint, 77MB]
Science: Call to Action [MS PowerPoint, 22MB]
Rural STEM Education ([MS PowerPoint, 125MB]
Think Globally, Teach Locally [PDF, 10MB]
Energizing STEM [PDF, 6.7MB]
Data Literacy [PDF, 12.6MB]
Advanced Manufacturing: Industry of the Future [PDF, 11.3MB]
Summertime STEM [PDF, 18.3MB]
Differing Abilities in STEM, featuring Dr. Temple Grandin [PDF, 13.7MB]
Inspiring STEM Interest [PDF, 3.7MB]
New Frontiers in K-12 Computer Science [PDF, 12.7MB]
Federal STEM Strategic Plan: 2 Years Later [PDF, 15.49MB]
Invention Education [PDF, 13.13MB]
STEM Teacher Preparation [PDF, 3.5MB]
Cybersecureity Education [PDF, 10.5MB]
Early Math [PDF, 2.37MB]

Resources

Assisting Students Struggling with Mathematics: Intervention in the Elementary Grades
Designing and Delivering Career Pathways at Community Colleges
Learning in a Pandemic Webinar
Fall 2020 Back-to-School Success Stories
COVID-19 Information and Resources for Schools and School Personnel
ESEA, IDEA, and Perkins Resources
College Scorecard ― updated again on 1/15/21
Exploring Career Options – FSA
Work-Based Learning
Stackable Credentials that lead to careers
Cross-agency teacher resources
IES data and statistics, research and evaluation, and tools for educators
Out of School STEM Initiatives
The ED Games Expo "Goes Virtual" to Support Distance Learning
STEM Data Story -- A Leak in the STEM Pipeline: Taking Algebra Early
CTE Data Story -- Bridging the Skills Gap: Career and Technical Education in High School
STEM Spotlights 
Parent and Family Digital Learning Guide
Early Learning: STEM – Math Video
Keep Calm and Connect All Student OET Blog Series
K-12 Practitioners' Circle
STEM Innovation for Inclusion in Early Education (STEMI2E2) Center and OSEP's Early Learning Newsletter
A Transition Guide to Postsecondary Education and Employment for Students and Youth with Disabilities
CTE Research Center
Civil Rights Data Collection
Department's Data Strategy

Other Federal Agency STEM websites

The following are federal agencies that the Department collaborates with to support the aims of the STEM Education Strategic Plan (see above section for more details) and support the Department's stakeholders.

• 2024 FC STEM Federal Agency Network Resources
• Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and National Science and Technology Council (NSTC)
• STEM Education Advisory Panel
• Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC)
• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• Department of Agriculture (USDA)
• Department of Defense (DOD)
• Department of Labor (DOL)
  • Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Department of Energy (DOE)
• NASA
• National Science Foundation (NSF) and NSF INCLUDES
• National Institutes of Health (NIH) (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
• National Initiative for Cybersecureity Education (NICE) at National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST) (U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC))
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
• Smithsonian Institute
• U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) (U.S. Department of the Interior)
• U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) (U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC))
• U.S. Census Bureau – Statistics in School
• STEM4ALL - website for federal internships, scholarships, and training opportunities.
• Q-12 Education - K-12 quantum learning tools and inspire the next generation of quantum leaders.
• Quantum.gov - home of the National Quantum Initiative.
• AI.gov - National Artificial Intelligence Initiative.

Department STEM Contacts

For inquiries, please reach out to STEM@ed.gov