NSF S-STEM: Tracks, Eligibility, Scholarship Caps

NSF S-STEM (Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) is a National Science Foundation program that gives money to colleges and universities, not to individual students, so that the institution can award scholarships to academically talented, low-income students in STEM fields. Students cannot apply to NSF directly; they apply to the institution that holds the award. Everything below is as described on the official NSF pages on 2026-10-29, which are listed under Sources.

What it is and who runs it

S-STEM is run by NSF’s Directorate for STEM Education (EDU) under solicitation NSF 25-514 (assistance listing 47.076). The solicitation was posted December 2, 2024 and replaces NSF 24-511. Its stated goal is to “enable academically talented, low-income students to pursue successful careers in promising STEM fields.” The solicitation lists anticipated funding of $80,000,000 to $120,000,000, and the program page lists an estimated 40 to 60 awards, subject to the availability of funds.

Is S-STEM for students or for institutions?

Institutions. A two- or four-year institution of higher education (IHE) submits a proposal through Research.gov; if funded, the institution selects scholars under its own guidelines and builds supports around them. A student looking for an S-STEM scholarship should ask the financial aid or STEM department office at a campus that holds an award.

Eligibility (summary, with the official source)

Who can apply?

The solicitation names “two- and four-year IHEs (including community colleges) accredited in, and having a campus located in the U.S.” An organization may submit up to two proposals per deadline, and those proposals may not overlap in S-STEM disciplines. An institution that already holds an S-STEM award is advised to wait until the end of year three before proposing a new Track 2 or Track 3 project for the same disciplines. NSF encourages proposals from two-year institutions, predominantly undergraduate institutions, and urban, suburban and rural public institutions.

For Tracks 1 and 2 the principal investigator must be a faculty member currently teaching in an S-STEM eligible discipline, or an academic administrator who has taught in one. For Track 3 the PI may also be a researcher who does not teach.

Who can receive a scholarship?

U.S. citizens, nationals, refugees or permanent residents (DACA recipients are not eligible unless they meet one of those categories).
Enrolled at least half-time in an eligible associate, baccalaureate or graduate degree program.
Low-income under the institution’s guidelines, with demonstrated unmet financial need (the FAFSA for undergraduates, the GAANN definition for graduate students).
Academic ability or potential, as defined by the institution.

The solicitation excludes clinical degrees (including medical degrees, nursing, veterinary medicine, pharmacy and physical therapy), teacher certification covered by the Noyce program, and business administration.

What it funds or requires

Scholarships may be up to $15,000 per year for undergraduates and $20,000 per year for graduate students. The solicitation says scholarships “must cover the scholars’ actual unmet need or the maximum allowable scholarship amount, whatever is less,” and loans are excluded from the unmet-need calculation. Scholarships go on budget line F1 (Participant Support Stipends). The budget must also fund at least one PI team member to attend S-STEM PI Conferences in Washington, DC, at least three times.

Track 1, Track 2 or Track 3?

Feature	Track 1: Institutional Capacity Building	Track 2: Implementation	Track 3: Inter-institutional Consortia
Maximum award	Up to $2,000,000	Up to $2,000,000	Up to $5,000,000
Maximum duration	6 years	6 years	6 years
Share that must be pure scholarships	At least 50%	At least 60%	At least 60%
Who may apply	An institution with no active S-STEM or STEP funding in the five years before the deadline	Any IHE, regardless of prior S-STEM or STEP awards	Consortia of institutions
Special feature	A 6 to 12 month planning period with no scholarships	Same common requirements as Track 1	NSF formal progress review in year three

The Track 1 bar applies to the whole institution: if any program or department had an S-STEM or STEP award in the prior five years, the institution is not eligible for Track 1. Track 1 leadership must include a STEM administrator at department-head level or above. Planning, conference and other proposal types are possible at any time, after consulting an S-STEM Program Officer.

Application and compliance steps

Confirm institutional eligibility and your campus’s internal process; your Office of Sponsored Programs controls the submission.
Pick the track using the table above and decide the disciplines the project will cover.
Write the Project Summary with separate statements on Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts. If either is missing, NSF “will return without review.”
Write the Project Description. The solicitation asks for the significance of the project, the scholar pool and the justification of scholarship amounts, institutional infrastructure, evidence-based student supports, results from prior NSF support, a management plan, external evaluation, dissemination, and a Broader Impacts section.
Assemble the supplementary documents: a letter from the financial aid office, a “Project Details” PDF, a scholar-pool analysis with retention and graduation rates, a logic model or theory of change, biosketches including the external evaluator’s, and for Track 1 a planning document of at most four pages.
Submit through Research.gov by the deadline in the submitting organization’s local time.

Proposals are judged on two criteria: Intellectual Merit (the potential to advance knowledge) and Broader Impacts (the potential to benefit society and contribute to specific, desired societal outcomes).

Typical timeline phases

The sequence below follows the solicitation; it gives phases, not calendar dates.

Before submission: internal eligibility check, team assembly, financial aid office letter, scholar-pool analysis.
Proposal deadline: annual, in early March. The program page lists a full proposal deadline of March 2, 2027 at 5 p.m. submitting-organization local time, and “First Tuesday in March, Annually Thereafter.”
Track 1 planning period: 6 to 12 months with no scholarships. Scholarship support should begin within the second budget year.
Years of operation: up to six years. Track 3 projects face a formal NSF progress review in year three.

Common mistakes

Submitting a Project Summary that does not separately address Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts, which leads to return without review.
Applying under Track 1 when any department at the institution held S-STEM or STEP funding in the previous five years.
Proposing scholarships above the unmet-need figure or above the $15,000 and $20,000 caps.
Including excluded fields such as clinical degrees, Noyce-covered teacher certification or business administration in the scholar pool.
Submitting two proposals in overlapping S-STEM disciplines at the same deadline.
Leaving the PI conference travel out of the budget.

Related programs

Program	How the S-STEM solicitation refers to it
STEP	Active S-STEM or STEP funding in the prior five years makes an institution ineligible for Track 1
Noyce	Teacher certification covered by Noyce is excluded from S-STEM scholarships
GAANN	Its definition of unmet need is used for graduate scholars

For other NSF mechanisms see the NSF CAREER Award, NSF broadening participation and NSF Regional Innovation Engines.

FAQ

Who can apply for NSF S-STEM?

Accredited U.S. two- and four-year institutions of higher education, through a PI who teaches in an eligible STEM discipline or is an academic administrator who has taught in one. Individual students cannot apply to NSF.

How much can an S-STEM project receive?

Up to $2,000,000 for Track 1 and Track 2 and up to $5,000,000 for Track 3, each for a maximum of six years.

How large is a scholarship?

Up to $15,000 per year for an undergraduate and $20,000 per year for a graduate student, limited to the scholar’s actual unmet need if that is lower.

Can a graduate student receive an S-STEM scholarship?

Yes. Associate, baccalaureate and graduate students in eligible disciplines can be scholars, provided they enroll at least half-time and meet the citizenship, need and academic criteria.

When is the deadline?

The program page lists March 2, 2027 and the first Tuesday in March in later years, as described on 2026-10-29. Always check the current solicitation before planning.

Sources

NSF, “S-STEM: NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics” program page (page last updated October 7, 2026; checked 2026-10-29).
NSF 25-514 solicitation (posted December 2, 2024; checked 2026-10-29).

NSF S-STEM: Tracks, Eligibility, Scholarship Limits and How Institutions Apply