A guide to grants for STEM education, including federal, foundation, and corporate funders, eligibility, and tips for winning STEM education grants.

2025–2026 STATUS UPDATE: The Institute of Education Sciences (IES), the federal education-research arm at the U.S. Department of Education, was largely dismantled in 2025. Staff dropped from ~175 to fewer than 20; ~$900M in research contracts were terminated. Lawsuits are pending. References to IES-operated resources (including the What Works Clearinghouse) and IES grant programs may be unavailable or significantly diminished. Verify at ies.ed.gov.

STEM education is one of the most actively funded areas in American philanthropy and federal grantmaking. Schools, after-school programs, museums, libraries, universities, and community-based nonprofits all have access to substantial STEM-specific funding, if they know where to look.

This guide covers the main sources of STEM education grants, what each funds, and how to write competitive STEM education proposals.

TL;DR: Quick Answers

Who funds STEM education? Federal agencies (especially NSF, ED, DOE, NASA), foundations of many types, and corporate funders, especially tech and engineering companies.
Who can apply? Schools, school districts, universities, nonprofits, museums and science centers, and partnerships.
What do they fund? Curriculum, teacher development, equipment and labs, out-of-school programs, equity and access, research, and STEM pathways.
What’s the trend? A strong emphasis on equity, computer science and AI, climate and clean energy, and partnerships across sectors.

Major Federal STEM Funders

National Science Foundation (NSF). STEM education is core to NSF’s mission, especially through the Directorate for STEM Education (formerly EHR). Major programs include Discovery Research PreK-12 (DRK-12), Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE), Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL), and Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship. See NSF and NIH grants.

Department of Education. The ED funds STEM through programs like Education Innovation and Research (EIR), the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), Title programs, and discipline-specific competitions.

NASA. NASA’s education portfolio funds STEM engagement, including Next Gen STEM and related grants.

Department of Energy. DOE funds STEM education tied to energy and environmental work.

National Institutes of Health (NIH). Funds biomedical STEM pathways through programs like SEPA (Science Education Partnership Award).

NOAA, USGS, and other science agencies. Smaller portfolios but real funding for environmental and Earth-science education.

Major Foundation STEM Funders

A non-exhaustive list:

Gates Foundation. Significant K-12 STEM funding, particularly around math curriculum and equity.
Carnegie Corporation of New York. Long history in K-12 education.
William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Education-focused grantmaking including STEM.
Walton Family Foundation. K-12 education grantmaking.
Helmsley Charitable Trust. Significant higher-ed STEM funding.
Heising-Simons Foundation. Early-childhood and astronomy education.
Burroughs Wellcome Fund. Science teacher development.
Charles A. Dana Foundation, Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation. Discipline-specific.
Many family and community foundations.

For research approach see private vs. public foundations and how to research a funder.

Major Corporate STEM Funders

STEM is one of the most popular corporate giving themes, especially among tech, engineering, and aerospace companies:

Google.org, Microsoft Philanthropies, Amazon Future Engineer.
Salesforce, Cisco, Adobe.
Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman.
Intel, Texas Instruments, AMD.
ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell (often through their foundations).
GE Foundation, Caterpillar Foundation, 3M.

See corporate giving programs for engagement strategy.

What STEM Funders Typically Look For

A few common priorities:

Equity and access. Underrepresented students in STEM (girls, students of color, students from low-income backgrounds, students in rural areas, students with disabilities). Funders increasingly require explicit equity strategies.
Evidence base. What research supports your approach? Cite literature, see logic models and theory of change.
Pathways. Funders favor work that connects early STEM exposure to higher-ed and career pathways.
Measurable outcomes. STEM grants demand strong evaluation plans, not just activity counts.
Partnership. K-12 + higher ed + industry partnerships are increasingly favored.
Hot topics. Computer science, AI, climate, clean energy, biotech, and quantum are current emphases for many funders.

How to Win STEM Education Grants

A few practical principles:

1. Match the funder precisely. A grant for early-elementary girls in STEM is different from a college research-pathway grant. See how to research a funder.

2. Cite research. STEM funders expect grounding in education research.

3. Show equity authentically. Plans that describe how you’ll reach underrepresented students concretely, not just rhetorically.

4. Document partnerships. School-university-industry partnerships are powerful, see partnerships in grant proposals.

5. Build a strong evaluation. Pre/post measures of STEM identity, engagement, knowledge, skills. See evaluation plan and data collection plan.

6. Plan sustainability. What continues after the grant? See sustainability plan.

Where to Start

For school-based applicants:

Start with ED Title programs and IES.
Add NSF DRK-12 and IUSE for deeper research-practice work.
Layer corporate STEM grants and local foundations.

For nonprofits and informal-STEM applicants:

NSF AISL is core.
Community and family foundations active in education.
Corporate STEM giving in your region.

For university applicants:

NSF IUSE and discipline-specific programs.
IES and NIH SEPA where relevant.
Foundation higher-ed STEM funders.

How Grantboost Helps

STEM education funding spans federal, foundation, and corporate sources, hard to navigate by hand. Grantboost scans funding sources continuously and surfaces scored, mission-matched opportunities across all of them, so STEM-focused organizations see the full funding landscape in one pipeline.

Drafts come back in your organization’s voice (see training AI on your past proposals), structured around each STEM funder’s specific priorities.

Try Grantboost free and build a STEM funding strategy that covers every source.

Grants for STEM Education: Funding Sources for Schools and Nonprofits