U.S. National Science Foundation · United States

IUSE: Innovation in Two-Year College STEM Education (ITYC)

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U.S. National Science Foundation expects to make 20 awards, from a total budget of $10 million. Applications close on 9 Dec 2026. Eligible applicant types include others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification).

Deadline: 9 Dec 2026 (in 24 days)
Grant amount: ≈ $500,000 per award (estimate: total ÷ 20 awards)
Total budget: $10 million
Funding rate: No mandatory cost sharing stated; funding percentage not stated
Total budget: $10 million
Expected awards: 20
Cost sharing: Not required
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation
Reference: 23-584
Assistance listing: 47.076 STEM Education (formerly Education and Human Resources)
Last checked: 13 Nov 2026

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About this call

The National Science Foundation (NSF) plays a prominent role in the improvement of undergraduate STEM education at the Nation’s colleges and universities. Through the IUSE: Innovation in Two-Year College STEM Education (ITYC) program, the agency seeks to extend this effort by making an intentional investment in the country’s two-year institutions of higher education, or two-year colleges. The twin goals of the ITYC program are to (1) center students in the effort to advance innovation and promote success in STEM education at two-year colleges, and (2) enhance the capacity of two-year colleges to harness the talent and potential of their student and faculty populations through innovative disciplinary, multi-department, and college-wide efforts. These goals will be achieved by investing in projects at two-year colleges that contribute to student success in STEM-based foundational courses and academic pathways for both majors and non-majors. Project activities may be in any discipline that is currently supported by NSF funding, which includes the social, behavioral, and economic sciences. Collectively, projects in the ITYC program will make progress towards ensuring that two-year college students and faculty have the resources to participate in and contribute to the broader STEM enterprise.

Read the full text

Aligned with the goals above, the ITYC program features two tracks: (1) A Focus on the Academic Experiences of Two-Year College Students and (2) Leveraging Two-Year College Strengths and Innovation. Each Track can support projects requesting up to $500,000 for a duration of up to three years. For institutions that have not received NSF funding in the past five years, an additional $100,000 may be added to the budget which may be used by the institution to support and carry out grant-funded activities over four years. This would result in a total maximum budget of $600,000 for a project over four years. Institutions that have been funded as part of a collaborative award with their own NSF Award Number are not eligible for this incentive, however, institutions that have had a subaward from another institution are eligible.

This program is open to two-year colleges, which includes the following institutions, as described by Carnegie Classifications:

• Associate’s Colleges: Institutions at which the highest-level degree awarded is an associate degree. This may include transfer as well a career and technical oriented colleges.

• Baccalaureate / Associate’s Colleges: Institutions that award at least one baccalaureate degree but confer at least 50% of their degrees at the associate level.

The ITYC program is aligned with NSF's Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) framework, which is a comprehensive effort to accelerate improvements in the quality and effectiveness of undergraduate education in STEM fields.

Who can apply

Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)

*Who May Submit Proposals: Proposals may only be submitted by the following:

-Proposals may only be submitted by two-year colleges of higher education (either Associate’s College or Baccalaureate / Associate’s Colleges) that are accredited and offer undergraduate educational degree programs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).  Baccalaureate, Master’s, and Doctoral institutions, and Professional Organizations may partner with a two-year college as a subaward or as a collaborator.  For all collaborative proposals, two-year colleges must be the lead organization.  Please see PAPPG Chapter II.E.3 for additional guidance on collaborative proposals.

Applicant categories are a starting point. The official call decides eligibility.

Topics

Science and Technology and other Research and Development

How to apply

Apply through the funder’s official page (link below); it states the procedure, documents and deadline.

From the call text

Who can apply: Not stated in the call text we hold — check the official page
Company stage: Not stated in the call text we hold — check the official page
Single applicant or consortium: Not stated in the call text we hold — check the official page
Where applicants must be based: Not stated in the call text we hold — check the official page
Where to apply: Not stated in the call text we hold — check the official page

Contact

U.S. National Science Foundation · grantsgovsupport@nsf.gov · 703-292-4203

Where these facts come from

Fact	Value	How we know	Taken from the source
Deadline	9 December 2026	official data field	15 Nov 2026
Amount per applicant	Unknown — not stated in the source we hold	unknown	—
Total budget	$10 million	official data field	15 Nov 2026
Funding rate	No mandatory cost sharing stated; funding percentage not stated	read from the official text	15 Nov 2026
Who can apply	Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)	official data field	15 Nov 2026
Where to apply	Unknown — not stated in the source we hold	unknown	—

Official sources

Official call page · Funder's programme page

Facts on this page come from the funder’s official data, taken on 13 Nov 2026. The funder's own documents, including later amendments, always take precedence.