Progress Report on Coordinating Federal 

Science, Technology, Engineering, and 

Mathematics (STEM) Education 

March 2016
About the Office of Science and Technology Policy

The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) advises the President on the effects of 

science and technology on domestic and international affairs. The Office serves as a source of 

scientific and technological analysis and judgment for the President with respect to major 

policies, plans, and programs of the Federal Government. OSTP leads an interagency effort to 

develop and implement sound science and technology policies and budgets. The Office works 

with the private sector to ensure Federal investments in science and technology contribute to 

economic prosperity, environmental quality, and national security. For more information, visit 

http://www.ostp.gov.

About this document

As called for in the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010, the National Science and 

Technology Council’s (NSTC) Committee on STEM Education (CoSTEM) released, in May of 

2013, the Federal Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education 5-

Year Strategic Plan (Strategic Plan).1 

As required by the Act, this report includes an update on Strategic Plan implementation 

activities, an update on efforts being taken to increase efficiency and coherence across the 

Federal STEM education portfolio, and a discussion of methods to disseminate information 

about Federally-supported STEM education research and resources.

This report also includes tables containing estimated and actual Federal STEM Education 

funding by agency and program (FY2015-2017). These data build on historical reporting of 

Federal STEM-education investments that appear in the Strategic Plan and in the Federal 

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education Portfolio released by 

CoSTEM in December 2011.2 

Copyright information

This document is a work of the U.S. Government and is in the public domain (see 17 U.S.C. 

105).

 1 http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/stem_stratplan_2013.pdf

2

http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/costem__federal_stem_education_portfolio_report.pdf
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20502

March 31, 2016

Members of Congress,

I am pleased to transmit this update on the Administration’s efforts to coordinate Federal 

investments in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. 

President Obama believes that every American student deserves access to a high-quality 

education in STEM for both their future and for the Nation’s future. Over the past seven years, 

the Obama Administration’s efforts have resulted in unprecedented levels of public-private 

collaboration in support of STEM education; policies and budgets focused on maximizing 

Federal investment in active, rigorous STEM-learning experiences; and innovative and wideranging efforts to inspire and recognize young inventors, discoverers, and makers.

The Administration’s actions to accelerate progress include:

• Setting and working to achieve ambitious national goals. These goals have included

preparing 100,000 excellent STEM teachers and producing 1 million more STEM college 

graduates over a decade. Thanks to deep public and private commitments, our nation is 

halfway towards achieving the goal the President set in 2011 of preparing 100,000 new 

math and science teachers by 2021, and 25,000 additional engineers are graduating yearly 

compared to when President Obama took office. Earlier this year, the President 

announced a bold new call to action: to give every child the opportunity to learn 

computer science (CS). In just the past two months, there has already been a strong 

response to the President’s call to action. 

• Deploying the President’s personal passion for getting more students excited about 

science and math. The President has hosted the first-ever White House Science Fairs—

five so far—which celebrate student winners of math, science, and robotics competitions 

and hosted the first-ever Maker Faire in 2014, which showcased students and adults 

applying the tools and skills necessary to design and make just about anything. In 

addition, President Obama has led by example as the first President to write a line of 

computer code as part of an “Hour of Code” in 2014 and issued a video calling on 

students, parents, and teachers across the country to do the same. 

• Maintaining a strong investment in STEM education even during difficult budgetary 

times. Throughout the President’s tenure, the Administration has worked hard to 

incorporate STEM education into the Administration’s overall education reform strategy. 

For example, the Department of Education’s $4 billion Race to the Top program included 

preference to states whose proposals emphasized innovation in STEM education. The 
President’s 2017 Budget builds on this strong focus, invests $3 billion in discretionary 

funds for STEM education, and proposes $4 billion in mandatory funds to support the 

Computer Science for All initiative. 

• Building a strong “all hands on deck” effort that includes business, nonprofits, 

foundations, and others. The Administration has secured more than $1 billion in private 

investment for improving STEM education as part of the President’s Educate to

Innovate campaign. More than 230 organizations have formed a coalition called 

100Kin10 and made over 250 measurable commitments to increase the supply of 

excellent STEM teachers. Institutions and organizations made more than 100 individual 

commitments as part of the 2014 White House College Opportunity Days of Action to 

attract and retain tens of thousands more students on a pathway to STEM degrees to 

support the President’s goal of one million more STEM college graduates. 

• Expanding the impact of existing Federal STEM programs. The Administration has made 

strong strides in Federal agency collaboration to improve STEM education. In support of 

that shared goal, Congress passed and President Obama signed the America COMPETES 

Reauthorization Act of 2010, a key piece of legislation supporting the Federal 

Government’s STEM education enterprise. As called for in this Act, the Administration 

formed a Committee on STEM Education (CoSTEM) under the National Science and 

Technology Council and produced a Federal STEM Education 5-Year Strategic Plan

(Strategic Plan) released in May 2013.3 CoSTEM and its subgroups have transitioned to 

implementation of the STEM Education Strategic Plan through the creation of a STEM 

education Cross Agency Priority Goal (CAP), in early 2014. This step institutionalizes 

the STEM Education Strategic Plan into agency performance metrics and requires 

agencies to issue public implementation updates every quarter. 

In addition, we’ve made real overall progress in education——over the past seven years, 49 

states and Washington, D.C. have raised expectations by adopting higher standards to prepare 

all students for success in college and careers. President Obama signed the bipartisan Every 

Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in December 2015. This law cements this progress by requiring 

that all students in America be taught to high academic standards that will prepare them to 

succeed in careers and in college.

Yet there remains work to be done in 2016 and beyond. To meet the projected workforce need of 

1 million additional STEM graduates by 2022 and to realize the vision of a highly diverse, 

creative, and sufficient STEM workforce and a STEM-literate citizenry, the Nation must engage 

all students. This effort must include women and minorities who are poorly represented in many 

STEM fields—despite the fact that these demographic groups comprise more than two-thirds of 

college students. Failing to engage underrepresented groups will lead to shortfalls in our nation’s 

STEM workforce. Importantly, it will also prevent the STEM professions from capitalizing on 

the power of human diversity, a historical strength and competitive edge of the American 

 3 http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/stem_stratplan_2013.pdf
economy, and will deprive some of our citizens from engaging in the rewarding and 

remunerative careers that STEM fields offer. 

The change needed to broaden access, success, and diversity in STEM education may seem 

daunting, but a vast array of evidence-based teaching strategies and methods that inspire and 

support all students will pave the way. The last half-century of education research has helped to 

shed light on the reasons that students—and in particular women and ethnic minorities—abandon 

study and careers in STEM fields. We must also continue to change the image of STEM jobs and 

the people who do them. That means providing role models to inspire diverse young people to 

pursue STEM careers and offering the public a more realistic and positive image of STEM fields 

than is evident in current media. 

That is why the 2017 Budget prioritizes three major areas for investment to support STEM

education for all students: (1) expanding access to rigorous STEM courses, including computer

science, (2) improving STEM teaching and supporting active learning, and (3) addressing bias

and expanding opportunities for underrepresented students in STEM. This progress report 

further describes STEM-education investments in the President’s 2017 Budget request, their 

alignment with the Strategic Plan, and continuing efforts to coordinate agency activities under 

the CoSTEM to improve STEM-education investments and outcomes towards shared national 

goals. 

I thank you for your leadership on this national priority and look forward to working with you on 

this shared agenda. 

Sincerely,

John P. Holdren

Assistant to the President for Science and Technology 

Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy
Table of Contents

STEM Education in the President’s 2017 Budget ...........................................................................1

Progress on the Implementation of the STEM Education Strategic Plan ......................................12

Reducing Fragmentation and Increasing Cross-Agency Partnerships...........................................15

Dissemination of Information about Federal STEM Education Resources...................................20

Table 1: STEM Education Funding by Agency, 2015-2017 ....................................................... 21

Table 2: STEM Education Funding by Program, 2015-2017 ...................................................... 22

Appendix: 2015 Quarterly Updates on STEM Education CAP Goal..........................................29
Department and Agency Abbreviations

Corporation for National and Community Service

Department of Agriculture

CNCS

USDA

Department of Commerce DOC

Department of Defense DOD

Department of Education ED

Department of Energy DOE

Department of Health and Human Services HHS

Department of Homeland Security DHS

Department of the Interior DOI

Department of Transportation DOT

Environmental Protection Agency EPA

National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA

National Institute of Standards and Technology (part of DOC) NIST

National Institutes of Health (part of HHS) NIH

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (part of DOC) NOAA

National Science Foundation NSF

National Science and Technology Council NSTC

Nuclear Regulatory Commission NRC

Office of Science and Technology Policy

Smithsonian Institution

OSTP

SI

United States Geological Survey (part of DOI) USGS
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I. Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics 

(STEM) Education in the 2017 Budget

“In the coming years, we should build on that progress, by ... 

offering every student the hands-on computer science and math

classes that make them job-ready on day one.”

President Barack Obama

2016 State of the Union Address

President Obama believes that every student in the United States should be given the highquality STEM education opportunities that allow them to join the innovation economy, have the 

tools to solve our toughest challenges, and be active citizens in our increasingly technological 

world. That’s why the President’s 2017 Budget invests $4 billion in mandatory spending and 

more than $3 billion in discretionary spending across the Federal Government on STEM 

education. The 2017 Budget prioritizes three major areas for investment to support STEM 

education for all students:

• Expanding access to rigorous STEM courses, with $4 billion in mandatory funding and 

$100 million in discretionary funding for the Computer Science for All initiative, which 

has the goal of giving every student from preschool to high school the opportunity to 

learn hands-on computer science (CS). Additional investments to support course access 

include $80 million for Next Generation High Schools. 

• Improving STEM teaching and supporting active learning, with a $125 million Teacher 

and Principal Pathways program to support teacher preparation programs, $10 million for 

a newly authorized STEM Master Teacher Corps program, and $109 million from the 

National Science Foundation (NSF) to ensure that undergraduate students have the most 

effective learning experiences. These investments will also advance progress on the 

President’s 2011 State of the Union call to action to prepare 100,000 excellent STEM 

teachers over 10 years.

• Overcoming stereotypes and expanding opportunities for all students in STEM, including 

a comprehensive NSF effort that will invest $16 million to support alliances and 

backbone organizations dedicated to increasing diversity and successfully engaging 

traditionally underrepresented groups in STEM education and careers.
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Expanding Access to Rigorous STEM Courses

To ensure that all students have access to high-quality and relevant STEM coursework, starting 

in preschool and progressing through the rest of their formative years, we, as a Nation, must 

increase opportunities for every student to have access to a full suite of advanced STEM courses 

in high school. For high school students, access to core and advanced STEM coursework is an 

essential part of preparing to enter the workforce equipped with relevant skills for a broad range 

of jobs and to successfully pursue STEM courses and degrees in college. Exposure to STEM 

education correlates with success in higher education, regardless of major.

Despite the critical importance of student access to rigorous STEM courses, the most recent 

survey from the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights’ Civil Rights Data Collection 

shows that 50 percent of U.S. high schools do not offer calculus and 27 percent do not offer 

physics. Between 10 and 25 percent of high schools lack more than one of the core courses in the 

typical sequence of high school mathematics and science education, such as algebra I and II, 

geometry, biology, or chemistry. Twenty-five percent of high schools with the highest proportion 

of African-American and Latino students do not offer algebra II, and 33 percent of these schools 

do not offer chemistry.

The Nation must take action to expand the number of schools that offer core and advanced 

STEM courses. The President’s 2017 Budget includes key investments to address the STEM 

course gap.

Computer Science for All

By some estimates, just one quarter of all K-12 schools in the United States offer computer

science with programming and coding. The President’s 2017 Budget includes a Computer 

Science for All plan that builds on momentum at the state and local level to offer rigorous 

coursework in computer science to all students in preschool through grade 12. The 2017 

Budget proposes $4 billion in mandatory funding at the Department of Education (ED),

available over three years, for states to increase access to hands-on computer science (CS) in 

P-12 classrooms. Under the program, all fifty states would be able to submit comprehensive 

five-year Computer Science for All plans, and every state with a well-designed strategy would 

receive funds. In addition to state-level grants, the 2017 Budget also dedicates $100 million in 

competitive grants specifically for leading districts to execute ambitious CS expansion efforts 

for all students—with a focus on reaching traditionally underrepresented students—and to 

serve as models for national replication. Participating states and districts would also be 

encouraged to create plans for expanding overall access to rigorous STEM classes, utilizing CS 

as a catalyst for increased interest in STEM more broadly, and reducing course equity gaps for 
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all students including underrepresented groups such as minorities, girls, and youth from lowincome families.

The Computer Science for All initiative also includes a $20 million investment from NSF in FY 

2017. The Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR) and the Directorate for 

Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) will build on ongoing efforts to 

enable rigorous and engaging computer science education in schools across the Nation. Funds 

will support the development and assessment of prototype instructional materials, scalable and 

sustainable professional development models, approaches to pre-service preparation for 

computer science teachers, and teacher resources. The NSF effort will also fund research that 

will add to knowledge of effective approaches to the teaching and learning of computer science 

across grades P-12.

More information on this initiative can be found in the January 2016 Computer Science for All

fact sheet. 

The 2017 Budget also includes additional investments to help narrow STEM course gaps, 

including:

• $500 million for Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants, a new block grant at 

ED authorized by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) that would provide flexibleformula grant funds to assist school districts in delivering a well-rounded education to

their students through a range of locally determined activities, including STEM 

education, the arts, student support services, and effective use of educational technology 

in schools. In addition, building on the STEM Education Act of 2015 and the new ESSA, 

this year ED will release guidance on funding opportunities for STEM and CS to states, 

districts, and the broader education sector.

• Creating Next Generation High Schools. Building on the momentum from the first-ever 

Summit on Next Generation High Schools held last year, the 2017 Budget proposes a 

new $80 million competitive program at ED to equip communities across America with

the resources to launch Next Generation High Schools that will be laboratories for 

cutting-edge STEM teaching and learning. These schools will showcase the tenets of high

school reform that the President has championed: promoting active and personalized 

learning for students, strengthening relationships with business and post-secondary 

partners, and linking student work to real-world expectations and experiences that reflect 

college and careers in order to better prepare students for their futures. The 2017 Budget 

also supports a number of complementary ED investments in high school reform more 

generally, including an increase in Title I to support school improvement, $350 million 

for charter schools, and $115 million for magnet schools. 
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• Identifying and Scaling What Works in STEM Education. The 2017 Budget funds $180 

million for ED’s Education Innovation and Research (EIR) program, the successor to the 

Investing in Innovation (i3) program. The EIR program expands support for evidencebased initiatives to develop, validate, and scale-up effective education interventions—

including interventions involving STEM education—that will help states and districts 

meet ESSA requirements emphasizing the use of such interventions wherever possible. A 

portion of these funds will be reserved for the proposed Advanced Research Projects 

Agency - Education (ARPA-ED), which would pursue the development of breakthrough 

educational technology and tools. Complementary investments in building evidence for

effective STEM programs include the Administration’s proposal for $83 million to 

support NSF’s Discovery Research PreK-12, which invests in research and development 

on STEM teaching and learning.

• Expanding course access for military-impacted students. The 2017 Budget calls for the 

Department of Defense (DoD) to invest $11 million in expanding STEM opportunities 

for children of military families. The DoD investments build on a multi-year record of 

success under the National Math and Science Initiative’s (NMSI) Initiative for Military 

Families. In FY16, the Department of Defense (DOD) is investing $8 million to expand

STEM opportunities for children of military families. To promote STEM education 

among military dependents, DOD is continuing to partner with the NMSI in militaryconnected schools, building on documented success in improving students' performance 

in rigorous STEM coursework and associated assessments. Results have been dramatic, 

with an 87- percent average increase in Advanced Placement (AP) Math and Science 

scores within the first year of implementation and 139 percent after three years. Benefits 

among underrepresented minority and gender groups are even higher. Up through the

FY15 investment, through this partnership with NMSI, DOD will reach 117 militaryconnected public high schools with the potential of reaching over 31,000 military 

children. DOD will explore additional opportunities to build cross-agency partnerships to 

leverage its science and engineering workforce, expertise, and resources to enhance this

multi-year record of success in STEM learning for military children.

• Leveraging the disciplinary expertise of the Federal agencies. The 2017 Budget provides 

$17 million for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to invest in the Science Education 

Partnership Award (SEPA) program, leveraging the expertise of the biomedical research 

community to support innovative STEM curricula in P-12 schools, and $4 million for the 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to invest in environmental education grants. 

Improving STEM Teaching and Supporting Active Learning

Abundant evidence shows that STEM teaching methodologies matter for learning. Active and 

hands-on, inquiry-based engagement enhances learning for students of all demographics and has 
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especially beneficial effects for women and other underrepresented groups, likely due to a 

greater sense of belonging that can be achieved in active classrooms.4,5,6 In STEM disciplines, 

use of active-learning techniques by educators—both in classrooms and informal settings—not 

only improves learning outcomes, but also helps to retain students in STEM majors. Activelearning strategies encompass a suite of practices in which students are engaged in thinking or 

problem-solving rather than passively listening to a lecture. These strategies can be as simple as 

challenging students to try to figure out how to solve problems on their own before being taught 

how to do so; or they can require more dramatic changes, such as engaging students in original 

research or design in introductory college courses.

In particular, the 2017 Budget supports effective STEM teaching by:

• Making Progress on the President’s Goal of Preparing 100,000 Excellent New STEM 

Teachers over a Decade: In his 2011 State of the Union address, the President called for a 

new effort to prepare 100,000 STEM teachers over the next decade with strong teaching 

skills and deep content knowledge. Answering the President’s call to action, more than 

230 organizations formed a coalition called 100Kin10. These organizations have made 

over 350 measurable commitments to increasing the supply of excellent STEM teachers, 

including recruiting and preparing more than 43,000 teachers in the first five years of the 

initiative alone. In addition, under this Administration, ED has announced more than 

$175 million in STEM-focused five-year grants under the Teacher Quality Partnership 

Grant program, which will support more than 11,000 new teachers in high-need schools. 

The 2017 Budget builds on this progress with the $125 million Teacher and Principal 

Pathways program to support teacher preparation programs and nonprofits partnering 

with school districts to create or expand high-quality pathways into the teaching 

profession, particularly into high-need schools and high-need subjects such as STEM. 

Finally, the 2017 Budget provides $61 million at NSF for the Robert Noyce Teacher 

Scholarship program to prepare new STEM teachers. 

• Creating a STEM Master Teacher Corps: The 2017 Budget includes $10 million at ED to 

establish a new program that responds to the President’s July 2012 call to create a 

national STEM Master Teacher Corps that would enlist America’s best and brightest 

science and mathematics teachers to improve STEM education. As part of this program, 

investments in the 2017 Budget will help States create leadership pathways for excellent 

 4 For example, see the white paper “Promising Practices in Undergraduate STEM Education” (2008) by J.E. Froyd (available online at: 

http://sites.nationalacademies.org/cs/groups/dbassesite/documents/webpage/dbasse_072616.pdf). See also Baldwin, Roger G., ed. (2009). 

Improving the Climate for Undergraduate Teaching and Learning in STEM Fields. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 5 Freeman et al., 2014. “Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics.” Proc Natl Acad Sci 111:8410-

8415.

6 National Research Council (U.S.), Donovan, S., & Bransford, J. (2005). How Students Learn: History, Mathematics, and Science in the 

Classroom. Washington, D.C: National Academies Press; Journal of Educational Psychology, 93, 579–588; Cognition and Instruction, 4, 137-

166.
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STEM educators to improve STEM teaching and learning. Corps members will build 

their capacity to be leaders in the field and enhance the professional learning of other 

STEM teachers; identify and share promising practices in their schools, districts, and 

States; and help students excel in STEM subjects while taking on coaching and 

mentorship roles in their schools and communities. In addition, collaborative efforts 

among NSF’s Excellence Awards in Science and Engineering (EASE), Robert Noyce 

Teacher Scholarship Program (Noyce), and Discovery Research in PreK-12 (DRK-12) 

programs will support the professional development of preK-12 teachers.

• Supporting K-12 STEM Teachers by Leveraging Federal STEM Assets: The National 

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will leverage over $1 billion of 

STEM assets to provide rigorous STEM education experiences for K-12 teachers. 

Teachers will be placed on NOAA research vessels to work side-by-side with NOAA 

scientists as part of their research team. By participating in this opportunity, teachers 

will gain great insight into scientific practices, cross-cutting concepts, and core 

disciplinary ideas, which they can bring back to their classrooms.

• Transforming Undergraduate Teaching and Learning: The 2017 Budget proposes 

approximately $109 million at NSF to support Improving Undergraduate STEM 

Education (IUSE), a Foundation-wide integrated framework for the agency’s investments 

in undergraduate STEM education. NSF investments in undergraduate STEM education 

are coordinated through the IUSE framework to enhance coherence and impact and to use 

shared metrics and evaluation approaches where appropriate. These investments support 

specific disciplinary needs, such as the need to reform the “middle years” in the 

undergraduate preparation of professional engineers, the need to recruit more women and 

minorities into majors in computer science, and the data science preparation of 

undergraduates in the geosciences and the biological sciences. The NSF investments 

include $76 million for NSF’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program 

to provide early opportunities for college students to conduct research, which can be 

especially influential in maintaining a student’s interest in science, engineering, and 

mathematics. 

Overcoming Stereotypes and Expanding Opportunities for All Students in STEM 

One of the greatest strengths of the American talent pool and workforce is diversity. To engage 

the diversity of Americans more fully, access the full potential of the STEM talent pool, and 

provide equitable opportunities, we, as a Nation, must utilize the growing research on the impact 

of barriers generated by unconscious bias driving interested students away from STEM. 
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This Administration has taken a range of steps to address these barriers and expand STEM 

opportunities for all students. These steps include starting the tradition of the White House 

Science Fair, and launching and growing the Educate to Innovate initiative, which has 

catalyzed more than $1 billion of private-sector investment in STEM education and includes a 

number of media organizations committed to broadening attitudes about who is capable of 

succeeding in STEM fields. 

To build upon past efforts, the Administration is working with the media and entertainment

industries to change the image of STEM jobs and the people who do them. This work will

provide role models to inspire diverse young people to pursue STEM careers and offer the

public a more realistic and positive image of STEM fields than is evident in current

programming. In addition, the Administration is convening Federal STEM agencies to delineate 

a comprehensive set of policies to mitigate the effects of bias on workplace behaviors through 

increased government-wide coordination, demonstrated Federal agency leadership commitment, 

and incorporation of bias-mitigation strategies throughout the grant review process for Federallyfunded institutions of higher education.

The 2017 Budget builds on these efforts and expands STEM opportunities for all groups through 

investments including:

• NSF Investments in Intermediary Organizations. As part of its “Inclusion across the 

Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and 

Science” (NSF INCLUDES) program, NSF, through a comprehensive R&D effort, will 

invest $16 million in FY 2017 to support alliances and other intermediary and backbone 

organizations in developing new solutions to increase diversity and inclusion and 

successfully engage traditionally underrepresented groups in STEM education and 

workforce development on an impactful scale.

• ED Investments to Expand Higher Education Opportunities for Underrepresented 

Groups. ED will invest in a set of programs that have a strong focus on increasing access 

to STEM education, including $100 million in the Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) 

STEM and Articulation program, sustained funding for Gaining Early Awareness and 

Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP), and increased funding for the 

Federal TRIO programs under which some grant funds may be used for STEM access 

and activities.

Continued Investments on Priorities in the Federal STEM Education 5-Year Strategic Plan

The 2017 Budget continues to target investment in the five priority areas identified in the Federal 

STEM Education 5-Year Strategic Plan, building on the interagency collaboration that has 
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helped to reduce the number of STEM programs by forty percent over the past three years. In 

addition to investments focused on improving P-12 instruction and undergraduate education and 

broadening participation in STEM education, the Budget includes investments for graduate 

education and workforce training, education activities that typically take place outside the 

classroom, and educational innovation. 

STEM-workforce and graduate-level STEM-education investments include:

• Strengthening American Cybersecurity. With a $70 million investment in the 

“CyberCorps®: Scholarship for Service” (SFS) program, NSF will support cybersecurity 

education at higher education institutions to prepare and train experts to respond to 

cybersecurity challenges. Of the $70 million, $25 million will be invested in laying the 

groundwork for SFS alumni to be available over the course of their careers to serve the 

Federal government, including by helping to respond rapidly to cybersecurity challenges.

• Preparing Graduate Students for Careers in High-Priority STEM Fields. The President’s 

2017 Budget includes $10 million for the Computational Sciences Graduate Fellowship 

(CSGF) at the Department of Energy (DOE) to continue training new graduate students 

in high-performance computing (HPC), thereby supporting a pipeline of future DOE 

leaders in HPC and equipping graduate students with the skills to help solve the Nation’s 

complex science and engineering problems. The 2017 budget also includes $66 million 

for NSF’s Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program, which invests in the 

education of technicians for in-demand high-technology fields, with a focus on 

partnerships between academic institutions and employers. Given the importance of 

oceans and our coastal areas, the President's 2017 Budget includes funding for the 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Dr. Nancy Foster 

Scholarship Program. This program recognizes outstanding scholarship and encourages 

independent graduate-level research—particularly by female and minority students—in 

science, engineering, and resource management of ocean and coastal areas.

• Continuing Support for Major Graduate Training Programs. NSF is developing a strategic 

framework for graduate education that will be released in spring of 2016. In FY 2017, the 

framework will guide the review, renewal, and development of solicitations for 

fellowship and traineeship programs, promote effective collaboration across the NSF 

directorates, and enhance professional development opportunities for graduate students. 

The 2017 Budget also provides $332 million at NSF for the Graduate Research 

Fellowship Program and $59 million for the NSF Research Traineeship Program to 

support thousands of outstanding graduate student researchers who will be tomorrow’s 

innovative leaders in a range of careers. Graduate students can access additional STEM 

opportunities in the Federal agencies under the Graduate Research Internship Program 
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(GRIP), which has a number of Federal agencies and national laboratories as partners. 

The 2017 Budget also includes $473 million for the National Institutes of Health (NIH)’s 

Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Institutional Research Training 

Grants (T32 and T35 awards only), which provide funding to prepare individuals for 

careers in the biomedical, behavioral, and social sciences. In addition, DoD will invest 

over $90 million in the Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation 

(SMART) Scholarship and the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate 

(NDSEG) programs to meet key national security workforce needs.

• Additional NSF steps to support graduate education. NSF also has established an Agency 

Priority Goal (AGP) for FY 2016 and FY 2017 on improving graduate student 

preparedness. By September 30, 2017, NSF will fund at least three summer institutes and 

75 supplements to existing awards to provide STEM doctoral students with opportunities 

to expand their knowledge and skills to prepare for a range of careers. The 

implementation of the APG will be integrated with the implementation of the strategic 

framework for graduate education. In addition, Alliances for Graduate Education and the 

Professoriate (AGEP), Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation’s Bridge to the 

Doctorate (LSAMP-BD) track, and NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, 

Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) support the successful entry and transition of 

underrepresented and underserved populations into STEM graduate education and into 

the STEM workforce.

Informal STEM Education

The President believes that we need to give many more students STEM experiences that engage 

them and show them the potential to use their STEM skills to have high-wage careers, tackle our 

world’s toughest challenges, and be engaged citizens in our increasingly technological world. 

That’s why the President has challenged students to be “makers of things” and hosted the firstever White House Maker Faire, and the Administration will celebrate a National Week of 

Making this summer. That’s also why the President led by example as the first to ever write a 

line of code with students, and called on the Nation’s 200,000 Federal scientists and engineers to 

volunteer in their local communities and think of creative ways to engage students in STEM 

subjects. In addition, several efforts, including public-private partnerships such as the STEM 

Learning Ecosystems initiative, are underway nationwide to build and sustain partnerships that 

support the intersection of informal and formal STEM learning.

The 2017 Budget builds on the President’s leadership with key investments that include:

• Identifying Best Practices to Engage Youth in Hands-On STEM. The 2017 Budget 

includes $63 million for NSF’s Advancing Informal STEM Learning program, which will 
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support design, adaptation, implementation, and research on innovative modes of 

learning in the informal environment, including emphases on public participation in 

scientific research, making, and cyberlearning. ED’s 21st Century Community Learning 

Centers (21st CCLC) program will also continue to foster interagency partnerships to 

bring hands-on STEM learning opportunities to high-need students during after-school 

and out-of-school time.

• Supporting High-Quality STEM-Education Programs at NASA. The 2017 Budget 

supports the NASA Office of Education’s efforts to enhance coordination with other 

agencies and use competition to identify and fund the most effective education activities 

across the agency. The Budget also provides $25 million to the NASA Science Mission 

Directorate education program which connects NASA science experts and content to 

learners of all ages. 

• Supporting Informal STEM Education by Expanding Public Participation in STEM 

Research and Citizen Science. In FY 2017, NSF will make progress on its Agency 

Priority Goal focused on building the capacity of the Nation to solve research challenges 

and improve learning by investing strategically in crowdsourcing and other forms of 

public participation, including students, in STEM research. In addition, as part of its 2017 

Budget, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will continue to promote 

community engagement through citizen science. NOAA supports over 65 citizen science 

projects that are estimated to result in more than half a million volunteer hours per year.

A powerful example of such collaborations was the Visualize Your Water Challenge, by 

EPA with support from ED, which challenged high school students to better understand 

nutrient pollution. 

Supporting Next-Generation Learning Technologies 

Building on the President’s Strategy for American Innovation and the Administration’s 

commitment to tackle the Grand Challenges of the 21st Century, the 2017 Budget provides up to 

$30 million for the Advanced Research Projects Agency - Education (ARPA-ED). ARPA-ED 

would allow ED to rapidly advance breakthrough innovations in education technology by 

creating interdisciplinary teams comprised of the nation’s top experts in education, technology, 

and other key disciplines. ARPA-ED will identify promising new approaches being pioneered in 

the private sector and other Federal agencies in the areas of distance learning, intelligent tutoring 

systems, and real-time assessment. Applying research and development strategies learned from 

the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), these technologies would be rapidly 

prototyped and transitioned to practice, allowing the nation to expand both the quality of and 

access to STEM coursework for all students.
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In addition, the 2017 Budget includes an increase in funding at ED for Competitive Assessment 

Grants, the successor to the Enhanced Assessment Grants program, which supports projects 

designed to increase innovation and quality in education assessment design and delivery and to 

help States address pressing needs they have identified for developing and implementing next

generation assessment systems.

Making the Most of Our STEM Investments

The President’s 2017 Budget maintains a strong commitment to the goals of the Federal STEM 

Education Five-Year Strategic Plan. This means:

• Agencies will coordinate their STEM-education investments through implementation of 

the Strategic Plan, looking for opportunities to build the evidence base, share what works, 

and leverage each other’s expertise and resources. Agency members of the National 

Science and Technology Council’s Committee on STEM Education (CoSTEM) have 

convened working groups focused on each of the five priority areas identified in the 

Strategic Plan and are working to coordinate and better align existing programs, develop 

joint pilot projects, and develop common data collection strategies. 

• Agencies will continue to look for internal consolidations that increase the overall 

effectiveness of their STEM investments. The 2017 Budget continues to reduce 

fragmentation, building on the internal consolidations that agencies began implementing 

in 2013. 

• The Administration is not requesting further reorganization of the overall STEM budget, 

but instead is ensuring that agencies have enough resources to continue strong 

interagency coordination. To support these and related activities, the Budget provides 

support for the work agencies are doing to implement the Strategic Plan, with a focus on 

building and using evidence-based practices and developing new interagency models for 

leveraging assets and expertise.
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II. Progress on Implementation of the Federal STEM Education 5-

Year Strategic Plan

The Federal STEM Education 5-Year Strategic Plan (Strategic Plan),7 released in May 2013, was 

the result of substantial work by the Administration to identify strategic priorities for STEM 

education investment, ways that agencies could collectively contribute to advance those 

priorities, and areas where such efforts could grow the evidence base of what works in STEM 

education.

Many Federal agencies prioritize STEM education and have developed related initiatives that are 

unique to their respective missions, visions, and resources. Building on these efforts, the 

Strategic Plan identifies five priority investment areas, each with a corresponding national goal 

toward which Federal agencies and collaborators in state and local entities and the private sector 

should aspire:

• Improve STEM teacher training. Prepare 100,000 excellent new P-12 STEM teachers by 

2020 and support the existing STEM teacher workforce.

• Increase and sustain youth and public engagement in STEM. Support a 50-percent 

increase in the number of youth in America who have authentic STEM experiences each 

year prior to completing high school.

• Enhance STEM experience of undergraduate students. Graduate 1 million additional 

students with degrees in STEM fields over a decade.

• Better serve groups historically underrepresented in STEM fields. Increase the number of 

underrepresented groups that graduate with STEM degrees in the next 10 years and 

improve women’s participation in areas of STEM where they are significantly 

underrepresented.

• Design graduate education for tomorrow’s STEM workforce. Provide graduate-trained 

STEM professionals with foundational expertise in basic research, options to acquire 

specialized skills in areas of national importance and mission agency’s needs, and 

ancillary skills needed for success in a broad range of careers.

In addition, CoSTEM agencies recognize that improved coordination and collaboration across 

the Federal STEM-education investment portfolio is necessary to make the most effective use of 

 7 http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/stem_stratplan_2013.pdf
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resources and expertise. Accordingly, the Strategic Plan outlines two priority coordination 

approaches:

• Build new models for leveraging assets and expertise. Implement a concept of lead and 

collaborating agencies to leverage capabilities across agencies to ensure the most 

significant impact of Federal STEM-education investments.

• Build and use evidence-based approaches. Conduct STEM education research and 

evaluation to build evidence about promising practices and program effectiveness, use 

across agencies, and share with the public to improve the impact of the Federal STEM 

education investment. 

The Strategic Plan laid out draft implementation roadmaps in each of the priority STEM 

education investment and coordination areas and proposed potential short, medium, and longterm objectives and strategies to help Federal agencies achieve the goals described. 

With the release of the Strategic Plan, the CoSTEM directed the Task Force on Federal 

Coordination in STEM Education (FC-STEM) to undertake planning for Strategic Plan 

implementation. Since 2014, FC-STEM has played this implementation role and has been rechartered as the Subcommittee on Federal Coordination in STEM Education under the CoSTEM.

In addition, since the release of the plan, FC-STEM has created five working groups, each tasked 

with executing one of the five strategic objectives described above. 

These interagency groups have continued to convene over the past two years to advance the 

Strategic Plan’s implementation. Across priority areas, these working groups have continued to 

expand projects that leverage agency assets and expertise to improve the reach of STEM content 

in formal school and afterschool settings; increase coordination across agencies to identify 

meaningful opportunities and experiences for P-12 teachers, undergraduate, and graduate 

students; identify localities with common grantees to best leverage Federal investment; and 

develop common data collection strategies for improved evaluation.

Going forward, CoSTEM and FC-STEM will continue to make progress on Strategic Plan 

implementation, with a shift from short-term goals to a focus on medium- and long-term 

strategies. The working groups will also continue to incorporate input from the STEM education 

community and make the adjustments needed to ensure progress on the shared goal of giving 

more Americans access to critical STEM skills.
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Strategic Plan Codified as a Cross-Agency Priority Goal

Since early 2014, the STEM Education Strategic Plan has also been incorporated into a CrossAgency Priority Goal (CAP).

8 This step institutionalizes the STEM Education Strategic Plan 

through agency performance metrics and requires agencies to issue public implementation

updates every quarter.

To read the 2015 Quarter 1, 2, 3, and 4 reports, see the Appendix.

 8 http://www.performance.gov/node/3404?view=public#apg
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III. Reducing Fragmentation of STEM Education Programs and 

Increasing Cross-Agency Partnerships

The Administration has made progress to reduce fragmentation of STEM education programs

and increase cross-agency partnerships. Over the past three years, the overall number of STEM 

education programs has been reduced by 40 percent, and agencies have continued to expand their 

cross-agency partnerships.

Internal Consolidations

The 2017 Budget maintains the Administration’s focus on reducing fragmentation through 

internal consolidations at the agencies. Notable examples include: 

• Consolidation of NASA’s education investments, by merging education efforts 

previously distributed throughout the agency into the Office of Education. Through a 

competitive process, the Office has identified and supported the most effective STEM 

education activities across NASA. 

• Consolidation of NSF education investments in priority areas. The Budget proposes 

approximately $109 million at NSF for a comprehensive Foundation-wide effort to 

improve undergraduate STEM education. In addition, NSF will use its strategic 

framework for graduate education—which will be released in spring of 2016—to guide 

the review, renewal, and development of solicitations for fellowship and traineeship 

programs, promote effective collaboration across the NSF directorates, and enhance 

professional development opportunities for graduate students. 

Cross-Agency Partnerships

Under CoSTEM, the Strategic Plan, and the STEM CAP Goal, agencies are undertaking a number 

of efforts to increase coordination and collaboration. Specific examples include:

• Launch This Year of a Single Portal to Search for Federally-Sponsored Opportunities for 

STEM Undergraduate and Graduate Students. Led by the Office of Science in the U.S. 

Department of Energy, the CoSTEM agencies, in collaboration with Science.gov, have 

launched a pair of websites that serve as searchable portals for undergraduate students,

graduate students, and institutions that provide undergraduate and graduate education,

providing the first single source where students and providers can find information on 

Federally-sponsored STEM education training and funding opportunities. On these portal 

sites, students can search for a range of opportunities such as research internships and 
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fellowships that they can apply for directly. Likewise, academic institutions can search 

for Federal funding opportunities to establish innovative training programs for 

undergraduates or graduate students. In either case, based upon taxonomy and metadata, 

the faceted portal search results return direct links to agency-sponsored programs. The 

site includes targeted searching capabilities for opportunity characteristics that include 

program type, sponsoring agency, location where the opportunity takes place, and STEM 

discipline. These sites are hosted on Science.gov, a gateway to government science 

information and research results, which is governed by 15 Federal agencies under the 

Science.gov Alliance. Consistent with the Coordination goal outlined in the CoSTEM 

Five-Year Strategic Plan, CoSTEM agencies will curate the information made available 

on these sites to keep the information current. The sites will also serve as a platform to 

make new information and resources relevant to the objectives of the CoSTEM working 

groups available to their target audiences.

• High-Impact STEM volunteering by Federal STEM employees. Building on the 

President’s call to action to the 200,000 Federal scientists and engineers to inspire the 

next generation of students, the Corporation for National and Community Service 

(CNCS), in 2015 announced a goal to work with Federal agencies and support one 

million hours of volunteering by Federal employees in STEM- and making-related 

activities. This campaign, FedServe: One Million Hours of STEM Volunteering, builds 

upon the ongoing efforts to support STEM initiatives that are already happening within 

the Federal government such as the Department of Energy’s STEM Mentoring Café 

series, Office of Naval Research Science and Engineering Apprentice Program (SEAP),

and CNCS’s STEM AmeriCorps. CNCS leads an interagency working group focused on 

achieving this goal and is creating a community for sharing best practices, policies, 

volunteer opportunities, and lessons learned on STEM volunteering across the Federal 

government. In support of the President’s vision, FedServe: (1) promotes the Office of 

Personnel Management memo, which encourages participation in STEM activities and 

initiatives by Federal employees; (2) identifies key demonstrated practices of existing 

Federal efforts; (3) provides support to Federal agencies looking to develop or expand 

their STEM volunteering footprint; and (4) helps connect Federal STEM employees with 

local STEM programming.

• Expanded interagency partnerships to give NSF-funded graduate students knowledge of 

STEM opportunities in the Federal agencies: The Budget provides approximately $400 

million at NSF for the Graduate Research Fellowship and Research Traineeship 

Programs to support thousands of outstanding graduate student researchers who will lead 

our Nation’s innovation economy through a range of STEM careers. To leverage the 

STEM expertise and career experiences available across Federal agencies, NSF has 

continued to develop partnerships with a growing number of agencies. New partners 
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include the U.S. Census Bureau, Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Geological 

Survey, Department of Homeland Security, National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration, and Federal Bureau of Investigation. Participating graduate students will 

gain valuable knowledge of STEM opportunities across the government and STEM fields 

under the Graduate Research Internship Program (GRIP). 

• ED’s interagency collaboration to add more STEM education into its $1.2 billion afterschool program. ED’s 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) program

is the Federal government’s largest investment in after-school programming, serving 

more than 1 million students a year. The 21st CCLC program is spearheading interagency 

collaborations that effectively leverage the STEM-education investments at other 

CoSTEM Federal agencies, with lessons learned from successful projects conducted in 

2015. These collaborations will support important goals in the STEM Strategic Plan: 

offering students authentic STEM content and experiences, as well as opportunities to 

engage with STEM subject-matter experts. 

In 2015, NASA and 21st CCLC expanded an existing collaboration to include two other 

Federal agencies – the National Park Service (NPS) and the Institute of Museum and 

Library Services (IMLS). The number of participating sites was expanded fivefold (from 

around 20 to over 100), with plans to benefit students nationwide. Participating sites 

represent broad geographic diversity and encompass rural and urban settings. The 

collaborations between Federal agencies, with support from national STEM experts, are 

powerful examples of the merits of well-structured interagency partnerships. 

o The NASA collaboration provided students with the opportunity to solve 

challenges based on real mission data and experiences that occur during 

exploration of the solar system. NASA staff provided face-to-face as well as 

ongoing online professional development to the 21st CCLC staff. Throughout the 

program, both staff and students were provided with several opportunities to 

interact directly with NASA scientists and engineers as they learned firsthand 

about engineering design and practices. In 2015, 80 21st CCLC sites across 10 

states participated and had the option of choosing from six engineering 

challenges.

o The NPS program introduced environmental monitoring and citizen-science 

programs to students in 21st CCLC programs at schools overseen by the Bureau 

of Indian Education (BIE) at 11 sites in five states. Native Americans are the 

most underrepresented group in the STEM fields. These programs are site-based, 

located in national parks, and focused on introducing students, including BIE 

students, to the natural resources in their region and related science. Working 
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with Hands on the Land, a national network of field classrooms and agency 

resources that connects students, teachers, families, and volunteers with public 

lands and waterways, NPS engaged park rangers and other subject matter experts 

to provide professional development to 21st CCLC staff at participating sites 

throughout the program and will provide subject matter expertise to students. 

o The program with IMLS introduced students at 25 sites across five states to 

making and tinkering projects—part of a growing “Maker Movement” that is 

providing a powerful way to get young people interested in STEM. The sitebased programs, coordinated through science centers, linked science center youthserving staff and programs with students at nearby 21st CCLC sites. Participating 

staff were trained by the Exploratorium, a San Francisco-based science center 

with a history of innovation in maker education, so that they can serve as subjectmatter experts, provide training to their colleagues, and work with youth 

participants. 

• Coordinating the Administration’s education initiatives: CoSTEM agencies are also 

taking a leadership role with, and building partnerships in support of, a number of the 

Administration’s education initiatives. 

o Under Computer Science for All, the Department of Education (ED), the National 

Science Foundation (NSF), CNCS, the Department of Defense (DoD) and the 

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) will all be taking steps this year to 

expand access to P-12 computer science. For example, in FY16, DOD is 

extending its partnership with NSF to expand STEM AP courses to include 

computer science as a core component of the curriculum as well as providing

teacher professional development. In addition, the Department of Education’s 

Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE) and NSF will 

participate in a joint effort to expand the field of CS educators in Career and 

Technical Education (CTE) programs. This effort will create a first cohort of 

educators who will provide additional CS professional development for educators 

across the country.

o There is a growing focus on incorporating STEM into early learning. ED is

working with NSF and HHS on an early childhood STEM workshop for April 

2016 to help identify best practices in early STEM education and define a 

research agenda to fill in knowledge gaps. 

• Interagency collaborations to expand STEM opportunities for all students, including 

underrepresented groups. This includes:
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o As part of the My Brother’s Keeper (MBK) initiative, CoSTEM agencies 

participated in the successful “National Week at the Labs,” where more than 50 

National Labs from across the Federal system in more than 20 states opened their 

facilities to thousands of youth from nearby neighborhoods. A number of 

CoSTEM agencies are also involved in the STEM track of the MBK taskforce and 

the newly launched Summer Opportunity Project.

o DOE and HUD have partnered with the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and 

are developing an innovative place-based initiative to create economic 

opportunity and energy-literate communities: STEM, Energy, and Economic 

Development (SEED): Coalitions for Community Growth. 

o In commemoration of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for 

Hispanics Initiative’s (Initiative) 25th anniversary in 2015, the Initiative made a 

national call for Commitments to Action, encouraging public, private, and 

nonprofit investments in the creation and/or expansion of quality education 

programming throughout the nation, serving Hispanics, with STEM being one of 

the main tracks, and featuring the work of a number of CoSTEM agencies. The 

White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities also 

includes a STEM priority and STEM was a featured topic at its annual conference 

last year. 

• Collaborating as part of multi-sector coalitions. Agencies are also collaborating as part of 

larger multi-sector coalitions, such as 100Kin10, a partnership of over 230 organizations 

working together to meet the President’s goal of training 100,000 excellent STEM 

teachers over the next decade. In addition to private-sector and philanthropic 

organizations, 100Kin10 includes as members ED, DOE, NASA, NSF, and NOAA.
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IV. Dissemination of Information about Federal STEM Education 

Resources and Opportunities

Federal agencies, both directly and as part of CoSTEM, communicate via a number of methods 

to the general public. This includes a range of information for the broader STEM education 

community: Federal STEM education resources; improvements to and new collaborations within 

existing programs; results and best practices from Federally-funded research; and progress on the 

Federal STEM education 5-Year Strategic Plan. Federal agencies also solicit input on how best 

to organize future STEM-education investments.

CoSTEM has shared a number of resources with the STEM education community to 

communicate its work on the Strategic Plan and to solicit feedback. These include:

• Quarterly CAP goal implementation updates. To inform the STEM education community 

of progress made toward Strategic Plan implementation, quarterly updates on the STEM 

education CAP goal are published at performance.gov, with CAP goal 2015 Quarter 1, 2, 

3, and 4 reports in the Appendix.

• Stakeholder meetings. In 2015, the P-12 Interagency Working Group hosted two 

workshops with faculty at institutions of higher education responsible for educating preservice teachers about using evidence-based STEM learning opportunities and Federal 

resources. The Undergraduate Education and Broadening Participation Interagency 

Working Groups hosted a “Minority Serving Community College and Federal Agency”

meeting to share information and resources about agency grant opportunities with 

minority-serving institutions. 

Examples of specific topics where CoSTEM agencies have shared or expanded their research 

insights include:

• Creating next generation high schools. In November 2015, NSF hosted the NextGeneration STEM Learning for All Forum (Forum). The Forum included researchers, 

policymakers, practitioners from the public and private sectors, school leaders and 

teachers, and NSF program officers. The goals of the Forum were to: (a) showcase NSFfunded research and development and inform policy makers and practitioners about the 

potential to transform STEM learning and education, (b) engage a broad community of 

stakeholders in envisioning the future of STEM learning and in strategizing how to best 

achieve collective impact, and (c) facilitate networking across stakeholder groups to 

leverage skills and strengthen connections, collaboration, and coordination toward 
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national goals for STEM education. The NSF Forum was followed by the first-ever 

White House Summit on Next Generation High Schools, with participation from ED and 

NSF.

• Computer Science for All. Building on the STEM Act of 2015, the Department of 

Education published information on the many existing Federal resources that can be 

utilized to expand access to rigorous coursework, including CS, with additional updates

in recent months.

Table 1. Federal STEM Education Funding by Agency

Table 1. Federal STEM Education Funding by Agency

(budget authority in millions)

2015 2016 2017

Actual Enacted Budget

Agriculture 90 91 90

Commerce 35 35 24

Defense 142 138 130

Education 528 531 561

Energy 50 52 60

Health and Human Services 616 629 629

Homeland Security 5 5 5

Interior 3 3 3

Transportation 90 98 100

Environmental Protection Agency 19 8 10

NASA 164 155 136

National Science Foundation 1,258 1,192 1,222

Nuclear Regulatory Commission 16 15 1

Corp. for Nat'l and Community Service 14 32 32

______ ______ ______

 Total Federal STEM Education Funding 2,946 2,979 3,003
COORDINATING FEDERAL SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS (STEM) EDUCATION: PROGRESS REPORT

TABLE 2. STEM EDUCATION FUNDING IN MILLIONS BY AGENCY AND PROGRAM, FY 2015-2017

AGENCY SUB‐AGENCY PROGRAM 2015 Enacted 2016 Enacted 2017 Budget

Agriculture NIFA 1890 Facilities Grant Program 19.7 19.7 21.7

Agriculture NIFA 1890 Institutions Capacity Building Grants Program: 6.4 6.4 10.1

Agriculture NIFA 1890 Institutions Capacity Building Grants Program:

Teaching

6.4 6.4 10.1

Agriculture NIFA 4‐H Science, 4‐H Youth Development Program 23.5 24.0 24.0

Agriculture APHIS AgDiscovery 0.8 0.9 0.9

Agriculture NIFA Agriculture in the Classroom 0.6 0.6                           ‐   

Agriculture NIFA AITC Secondary Postsecondary Agriculture Education

Challenge Grants (SPECA)

0.9 0.9                           ‐   

Agriculture NIFA Alaska Native‐Serving and Native Hawaiian‐Serving

Institutions Education Competitive Grants Program

3.2 3.2 3.2

Agriculture NIFA Hispanic‐Serving Institutions Education Grants

Program

9.2 9.2 9.2

Agriculture NIFA Insular Programs 2.0 2.0 1.8

Agriculture NIFA Multicultural Scholars, Graduate Fellowship and 9.0 9.0                           ‐   

Agriculture NIFA NIFA Fellowship Grants Program 7.5 8.1 8.6

Agriculture NIFA Women and Minorities in Science, Technology,

Engineering and Mathematics Fields Program (WAMS)

0.4 0.4                           ‐   

CNCS AmeriCorps CNCS STEM Programs 13.9 32.5 32.5

Commerce NOAA Competitive Education Grants (including 4.0 3.0                           ‐   Commerce NOAA Dr. Nancy Foster Scholarship Program 0.5 0.5 0.5

Commerce NOAA Educational Partnership Program with Minority

Serving Institutions

14.4 14.4 14.4

Commerce NOAA Ernest F. Hollings Undergraduate Scholarship Program 5.4 5.8 5.9

Commerce NOAA National Sea Grant College Program 1.0 1.0                           ‐   

Commerce NIST NIST Summer Institute for MIddle School Teachers 0.3 0.3 0.3

Commerce NOAA NOAA Bay Watershed Education and Training (B‐WET) 7.2 7.2                           ‐   

Commerce NOAA NOAA Teacher at Sea Program 0.6 0.6 0.6

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TABLE 2. STEM EDUCATION FUNDING IN MILLIONS BY AGENCY AND PROGRAM, FY 2015-2017

AGENCY SUB‐AGENCY PROGRAM 2015 Enacted 2016 Enacted 2017 Budget

Commerce NIST STEM Pipeline for the Next Generation Scientists and 1.0 1.0 1.0

Commerce NIST Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) 0.8 0.8 0.8

Defense Army Educational Outreach Program (AEOP) 9.3 9.4 9.5

Defense Awards to Stimulate and Support Undergraduate 4.5 4.5 4.5

Defense DoD STARBASE Program 25.0 25.0                           ‐   Defense National Defense Education Program (NDEP) Military

Child STEM Educational Programs

13.0 8.9 11.1

Defense National Defense Education Program (NDEP) Science, 45.5 40.0 53.6

Defense National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate

(NDSEG) Fellowship Program

36.0 42.4 43.3

Defense Navy ‐ Science and Engineering Apprenticeship

Program (SEAP)

1.0 0.6 0.7

Defense Navy Historically Black Colleges and

Universities/Minority Institutions Research and

3.6 4.0 4.0

Defense NSA Stokes Educational Scholarship Program 1.6 1.5 1.5

Defense The Naval Research Enterprise Intern Program (NREIP) 1.3 1.2 1.4

Defense University NanoSatellite Program 0.8 0.8 0.8Education OII Computer Science for All Development Grants                          ‐                      100.0

Education OPE Developing Hispanic Serving Institutions STEM and 92.7 93.2 100.0

Education OPE Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need

(GAANN)

29.3 29.3 29.3

Education IES High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 4.8 9.2 8.7

Education OII Investing in Innovation 25.0 25.0 40.0

Education OESE Mathematics and Science Partnerships/Effective

Teaching and Learning for a Complete Education

152.7 152.7                           ‐   

Education OPE Minority Science and Engineering Improvement

Program

9.0 9.7 9.7

Education OII Next Generation High Schools                          ‐                             ‐          48.0

Education IES Research in Special Education 9.7 6.0 6.4

Education IES Research, Development, and Dissemination 37.0 33.1 37.9

Education OII STEM Master Teacher Corp                          ‐                        10.0

Education OPE Strengthening Predominantly Black Institutions 5.7 7.2 7.2

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TABLE 2. STEM EDUCATION FUNDING IN MILLIONS BY AGENCY AND PROGRAM, FY 2015-2017

AGENCY SUB‐AGENCY PROGRAM 2015 Enacted 2016 Enacted 2017 Budget

Education OESE Teacher Incentive Fund 29.9 29.9 32.5

Education OPE Teacher Loan Forgiveness 89.0 86.0 87.0

Education OPE Upward Bound Math and Science Program 43.1 49.4 44.0

Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and

Renewable Energy, Vehicle

Technologies

Advanced Vehicle Competitions 2.5 2.5 2.5

Energy Office of Science, Office of

Nuclear Physics and Office of

Basic Energy Sciences

American Chemical Society Summer School in Nuclear

and Radiochemistry

                         ‐                           0.6 0.6

Energy Office of Science, Office of

Workforce Development for

Teachers and Scientists

Community College Internship (formerly Community

College Institute of Science and Technology)

1.0 1.0 1.3

Energy Office of Science, Advanced

Scientific Computing Research

Computational Sciences Graduate Fellowship 3.0 10.0 10.0

Energy DOE Traineeship in Advanced Technology                          ‐                           1.0

Energy DOE Traineeship in Radiochemistry and Nuclear

Chemistry with an emphasis in isotope production

                         ‐                           1.0

Energy Office of Science, Office of

Workforce Development for

Graduate Student Research Program 2.5 2.5 2.6

Energy Office of Environmental HBCU Mathematics, Science

& Technology, 8.0 8.0 8.0

Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and

Renewable Energy, Advance

Industrial Assessment Centers 6.0 6.0 10.0

Energy Office of Nuclear Energy Integrated University Program 5.0                           ‐                             ‐   

Energy Office of Science, Office of

Workforce Development for

National Science Bowl 2.9 2.9 3.0

Energy Office of Science, Office of Fusion

Energy Sciences

National Undergraduate Fellowship Program in Plasma

Physics and Fusion Energy Sciences

0.3                           ‐                             ‐   

Energy Office of Science, Office of

Workforce Development for

Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internships 8.3 8.3 9.3

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COORDINATING FEDERAL SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS (STEM) EDUCATION: PROGRESS REPORT

TABLE 2. STEM EDUCATION FUNDING IN MILLIONS BY AGENCY AND PROGRAM, FY 2015-2017

AGENCY SUB‐AGENCY PROGRAM 2015 Enacted 2016 Enacted 2017 Budget

Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and

Renewable Energy, Building

Technologies

Solar Decathlon 3.0 2.5 3.0

Energy Office of Fossil Energy Special Recuitment Programs/Mickey Leland

Fellowship

0.7 0.7 0.7

Energy Office of Environmental

Management

Subsurface Remediation and Project Management

Traineeship

2.0 2.0 2.0

Energy Office of Science, High Energy

Physics

U.S. Particle Accelerator Training 0.6 0.6 0.6

Energy Office of Science, Office of Visiting Faculty Program (formerly Faculty and Student 1.7 1.7 1.8

Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Wide Bandgap Power Electronics Traineeship 2.0 2.7 2.5

Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Wind for Schools 0.6                           ‐                             ‐   

EPA ORD Cooperative Training Partnership in Environmental 0.1 0.3 1.0

EPA Office of Environmental Environmental Education Grants 3.3 3.3 4.2

EPA ORD Greater Research Opportunities (GRO) Fellowships for 1.8                           ‐                             ‐   

EPA Office of Environmental National Environmental Education and Training 2.2 2.2 2.8

EPA ORD P3‐People, Prosperity

& the Planet‐Award:

A National 1.7 1.4 1.3

EPA NCER Science to Achieve Results Graduate Fellowship 9.3                           ‐                             ‐   

EPA ORD University of Cincinnati/EPA Research Training Grant 0.6 0.6 0.6

HHS NIH, NIGMS Bridges to the Baccalaureate Program 6.2 12.4 12.4

HHS NIH, NCI Cancer Education Grants Program 6.6 6.6 6.6

HHS NIH, NINDS Diversity Research Education Grants in Neuroscience 1.0                           ‐                             ‐   

HHS NIH, Intramural Training Graduate Program Partnerships 11.7 11.7 11.7

HHS HRSA Health Careers Opportunity Program 14.2 14.2 14.2

HHS NIH, NIGMS MARC U‐STAR NRSA Program 20.4 20.7 20.7

HHS NIH, NICHD Mathematics and Science Cognition and Learning 10.1 6.3 6.3

HHS Medical Research Scholars Program (MRSP) 0.1 0.1 0.1

HHS NIH, NCI National Cancer Institute Cancer Education and Career 17.5 17.5 17.5

HHS NIH, Intramural Training Post‐baccalaureate Intramural Research Training 19.8 26.9 26.9

HHS NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award

Institutional Research Training Grants (T32, T35)

473.2 473.2 473.2

Page 25
COORDINATING FEDERAL SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS (STEM) EDUCATION: PROGRESS REPORT

TABLE 2. STEM EDUCATION FUNDING IN MILLIONS BY AGENCY AND PROGRAM, FY 2015-2017

AGENCY SUB‐AGENCY PROGRAM 2015 Enacted 2016 Enacted 2017 Budget

HHS NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein NRSA for Individual Predoctoral

Fellows, including Underrepresented Racial/Ethnic

3.8 3.8 3.8

HHS NIH, OD Science Education Partnership Award 14.6 17.1 17.1

HHS NIH, NICHD Short Courses in Population Reseach (Education 0.6 1.6 1.6

HHS NIH, NIGMS Short Courses on Mathematical, Statistical, and 1.9 1.4 1.4

HHS NIH, NHLBI Short‐Term Research Education Program to Increase

Diversity in Health‐Related Research

4.4 4.9 4.1

HHS NIH, Intramural Training Student Intramural Research Training Award Program 5.3 6.3 6.4

HHS NIH, NHLBI Summer Institute for Training in Biostatistics 1.5 0.9 1.8

HHS NIH, Intramural Training Undergraduate Scholarship Program for Individuals

from Disadvantaged Backgrounds

2.8 3.4 3.4

Homeland Security DNDO National Nuclear Forensics Expertise Development

Program

5.0 5.1 5.0

Interior Bureau of Land Management Conservation and Land Management Internship

Program

1.5 1.5 1.5

Interior USGS EDMAP 0.5 0.5 0.5

Interior National Park Service Geoscientists‐in‐the‐Parks Program 0.7 1.0 1.0

NASA Science Mission Directorate

(SMD)

GLOBE Program 6.0 6.0 6.0

NASA Education Office MUREP 32.0 32.0 30.0

NASA Science Mission Directorate

(SMD)

NASA Science Mission Directorate STEM Projects 42.0 37.0 25.0

NASA Education Office Space Grant ‐ National Space Grant College and 40.0 40.0 24.0

NASA OCT‐ST Space Technology Research Fellowships 15.0 14.7 14.2

NASA Education Office STEM Education

& Accountability Project 29.0 25.0 37.1

NRC Office of the Chief Human Capital

Officer

Grants to Universities (Curriculum Development)

Program

5.0 5.0                           ‐   

NRC Office of the Chief Human Capital

Officer

Integrated University Program 10.0 10.0                           ‐   

NRC Small Business and Civil Rights

Office

Minority Serving Institutions Program (MSIP) 0.9 0.3 0.6

Page 26
COORDINATING FEDERAL SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS (STEM) EDUCATION: PROGRESS REPORT

TABLE 2. STEM EDUCATION FUNDING IN MILLIONS BY AGENCY AND PROGRAM, FY 2015-2017

AGENCY SUB‐AGENCY PROGRAM 2015 Enacted 2016 Enacted 2017 Budget

NSF Directorate for Education and

Human Resources (EHR)

Advanced Informal STEM Learning (AISL), formerly

Informal Science Education (ISE)

55.0 62.5 62.5

NSF Directorate for Education and

Human Resources (EHR)

Advanced Technological Education (ATE) 66.0 66.0 66.0

NSF Directorate for Education and

Human Resources (EHR)

Alliances for Graduate Education and the

Professoriate (AGEP)

8.0 8.0 8.0

NSF Directorate for Education and

Human Resources (EHR)

Cybercorps: Scholarship for Service (SFS) 45.0 50.0 70.0

NSF Directorate for Education and

Human Resources (EHR)

Discovery Research K‐12 (DR‐K12) 83.8 82.7 82.7

NSF Office of International

&

Integrative Activities (OIIA)

East Asia

& Pacific Summer Institutes for U.S.

Graduate Students (EAPSI)

2.4 1.8 2.5

NSF Directorate for Math and Physical

Sciences (MPS)

Enhancing the Mathematical Sciences Workforce in

the 21st Century (EMSW21)

5.7                           ‐                             ‐   

NSF Directorate for Education and

Human Resources (EHR)

Excellence Awards in Science and Engineering (EASE) 5.8 5.8 5.8

NSF Directorate for Education and

Human Resources (EHR)

& Office

Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) 333.4 331.9 332.2

NSF Directorate for Education and

Human Resources (EHR)

Historically Black Colleges and Universities

Undergraduate Program (HBCU‐UP)

32.0 35.0 35.0

NSF Directorate for Education and Improving Undergraduate Education 105.4 100.5 109.0

NSF Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of

Learners that have been Underrepresented for

                         ‐                        15.5 16.0

NSF Directorate for Education and

Human Resources (EHR)

Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and

Teachers (ITEST)

25.0 25.0 25.0

NSF Office of International

&

Integrative Activities (OIIA)

International Research Experiences for Students (IRES) 2.3 6.5 6.5

NSF Directorate for Education and

Human Resources (EHR)

Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation

(LSAMP)

46.0 46.0 46.0

NSF NSF NSF Research Traineeships (NRT) 61.6 54.2 58.6

NSF Directorate for Education and

Human Resources (EHR)

NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering,

and Mathematics (S‐STEM)

75.0 75.0 75.0

NSF Directorate for Engineering (ENG)

and Directorate for Computer

&

Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) in

Engineering and Computer Science

6.0 6.0 6.1

Page 27
COORDINATING FEDERAL SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS (STEM) EDUCATION: PROGRESS REPORT

TABLE 2. STEM EDUCATION FUNDING IN MILLIONS BY AGENCY AND PROGRAM, FY 2015-2017

AGENCY SUB‐AGENCY PROGRAM 2015 Enacted 2016 Enacted 2017 Budget

NSF Directorate for Education and

Human Resources (EHR)

Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) 73.2 75.4 75.6

NSF Directorate for Education and

Human Resources (EHR)

Robert Noyce Scholarship (Noyce) Program 60.9 60.9 60.9

NSF Directorate for Education and

Human Resources (EHR) and

Directorate for Computer

&

STEM‐C Partnerships 69.6 64.4 64.4

NSF Directorate for Education and

Human Resources (EHR)

Tribal Colleges and Universities Program (TCUP) 13.5 14.0 14.0

Transportation Federal Aviation Administration

(FAA)

Air Transportation Centers of Excellence 13.0 18.0 18.0

Transportation Federal Highway Administration

(FHWA)

Garrett A. Morgan Technology and Transportation

Education Program

0.4 0.4 0.4

Transportation Federal Highway Administration

(FHWA)

National Summer Transportation Institute Program

(STI)

2.8 2.6 2.6

Transportation Federal Railroad Administration Rail‐based University Transportation Centers Program                          ‐                           3.0 3.0

Transportation Office of the Secretary Summer Transportation Institute Program for Diverse

Groups (STIPDG)

1.3 1.3 1.3

Transportation Office of the Secretary University Transportation Centers Program 72.5 73.0 75.0

Page 28
STEM Education 

Goal Leaders: 

Jo Handelsman, Associate Director for Science, White House Office 

of Science and Technology Policy 

Joan Ferrini-Mundy, Assistant Director, National Science 

Foundation, Education and Human Resources 

 

FY2015 Quarter 1 

Cross Agency Priority Goal 

Quarterly Progress Update

1 

Overview 

2 

Goal Statement 

Improve science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education by implementing the Federal STEM 

Education 5-Year Strategic Plan, announced in May 2013, specifically: 

• Improve STEM instruction 

• Increase and sustain youth and public engagement in STEM 

• Enhance STEM experience of undergraduate students 

• Better serve groups historically under-represented in STEM fields 

• Design graduate education for tomorrow’s STEM workforce 

• Build new models for leveraging assets and expertise 

• Build and use evidence-based approaches 

Urgency 

• Advances in STEM have long been central to our nation’s economy, security, and ability to preserve the health 

of its people and the environment; enhancing U.S. students’ engagement and success in STEM disciplines is 

essential to the U.S. maintaining its preeminent position in the world. 

• We have considerable progress to make given that our K-12 system ranks “middle of the pack” in international 

comparisons. 

• Meeting the growing demand for STEM expertise and competency is important to the economy and our 

democracy. 

• Increasing opportunities in STEM for more Americans is critical to building a just and inclusive society. 

Vision 

• The Federal STEM Education 5-Year Strategic Plan sets out ambitious national goals to drive federal investment 

in five priority STEM education areas toward which significant progress will require improved coherence and 

coordination across federal agencies with STEM assets and expertise and STEM education resources. 

Progress Update 

3 

Federal Coordination in STEM Education (FC-STEM) updates: 

x FC-STEM finalized charters for the five Inter-agency Working Groups (IWGS). 

x Agreement that FC STEM will address the coordination objectives as a committee of the whole. 

x New leads identified for the P-12, Graduate, and Engagement IWGs to replace people who have left. 

Collaborations examples: 

x Cross-agency partnership examples: 

 The Department of Education’s 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC) program is piloting collaborations with the National Park 

Service and the Institute of Museum and Library Services and is expanding its NASA collaboration to include additional sites and 

engineering challenges (Engagement Priority Goal). 

 In addition to the existing four agencies (Office of Naval Research, Smithsonian Institution, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and 

Department of Homeland Security( DHS)), the Graduate Research Internship Program (GRIP) added two partners, Environmental 

Protection Agency (EPA) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) (Graduate Priority Goal). 

Meetings and Outreach 

• CoSTEM received a briefing on the progress towards implementation of the 5-year Strategic Plan (October 2014). 

• Office of Management and Budget (OMB) leadership and representatives from the CAP Goal team met to review progress of the goal and 

to discuss key initiatives for the next year (October 2014). 

• Following the discussion with OMB, representatives from the IWGs attended a retreat supported by the Performance Improvement Council 

(PIC) to identify innovative, focused efforts that could be accomplished during FY 2015. 

• All of the IWGs met jointly to discuss accomplishments from each group, share challenges, and make recommendations for better 

integration of cross-IWG work (October 2014). 

• White House College Opportunity Day of Action summit emphasized expanding opportunity for more students to enroll and succeed in 

college, especially low-income and underrepresented students (December 2014). 

Action Plan Summary

4 

Sub-goal Major Strategies to Achieve Impact Key indicators

1. Improve STEM 

instruction 

• Support teacher preparation efforts that encourage use of evidence-based STEM learning 

opportunities 

• Increase and improve authentic STEM experiences for teachers 

•Percentage of high 

school 

mathematics and 

science teachers 

who hold degrees 

in their teaching 

field or in science 

of mathematics 

education 

•Number of STEM 

bachelor’s degrees 

earned annually 

•Percentage of 

bachelor’s degrees 

awarded to 

women, black or 

African American, 

Hispanic, and 

American Indian or 

Alaska Native 

students 

(Plus further 

indicators in 

development – see 

slide 15) 

2. Increase and sustain 

youth and public 

engagement in 

STEM 

• Provide access to scientific and engineering assets of the federal government 

• Integrate STEM into school-readiness and after-school programs 

• Improve empirical understanding of how authentic STEM experiences influence learning or interest 

3. Enhance STEM 

experience of 

undergraduate 

students 

• Implement evidence-based instructional practices and innovations 

• Improve STEM education at 2-year colleges and transfer to 4-year colleges 

• Support the development of university-industry partnerships to provide relevant and authentic 

experiences 

• Address high failure rates in introductory undergraduate mathematics 

4. Better serve groups 

historically underrepresented in 

STEM fields 

• Be more responsive to rapidly changing demographics 

• Focus investments on developing and testing strategies for improving preparation for higher 

education 

• Invest in efforts to create campus climates that are effective in improving success for students from 

under-represented groups 

5. Design graduate 

education for 

tomorrow’s STEM 

workforce 

• Recognize and provide financial support to students of high potential 

• Provide opportunities for fellows’ preparation in areas critical to the Nation 

• Combine and enhance mechanisms that evaluate the impact of fellowships to inform future Federal 

investments 

6. Build new models 

for leveraging assets 

and expertise 

• Collaborate to build implementation roadmaps in the goal areas 

• Reduce administrative barriers to collaboration 

• Develop a framework to guide coordinated CoSTEM agency budget requests 

7. Build and use 

evidence-based 

approaches 

• Support syntheses of existing research on critical issues in STEM priority areas 

• Improve and align evaluation and research strategies across Federal agencies 

• Streamline processes for interagency collaboration 

COORDINATING FEDERAL SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS (STEM) 

EDUCATION: PROGRESS REPORT 

APPENDIX: FY 2015 QUARTERLY UPDATES ON STEM EDUCATION PROGRESS REPORT

29
STEM Education Goal Team and Governance Plan 

5 

Oversight and Project Management of 

Implementation Working Groups 

Goal Leaders: Joan Ferrini-Mundy and Jo Handelsman 

Deputy Goal Leaders: National Science Foundation (NSF) and 

Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) 

Undergraduate 

STEM 

Education 

Co-Leads: 

• NSF 

• Department of 

Defense 

Underrepresented 

Groups 

Co-Leads: 

• NSF 

• National 

Institutes of 

Health (NIH) 

Graduate 

Education 

Co-Leads: 

• NSF 

• NIH 

P-12 STEM 

Instruction 

Co-Leads: 

• Department 

of Education 

• NSF 

Engagement 

Co-Leads: 

• Smithsonian 

• NASA 

Coordination 

Objectives 

Lead: 

• FC-STEM 

Governance 

• Co-STEM: Jo Handelsman (OSTP) and France Córdova (NSF) are Co-Chairs. Annual 

report from FC-STEM to Co-STEM 

• FC-STEM: Joan Ferrini-Mundy (NSF) and Donald James (NASA) are Co-Chairs. 

Quarterly reports from Inter-agency Working Groups to FC-STEM 

Work Plan: Governance and Coordination

6 

• Build new models for leveraging assets and expertise. 

• Build and use evidence based approaches. 

Barriers/Challenges 

• Working groups are at varying stages of development of goal priorities, indicators, and milestones. 

• Coordination of goals among IWGs needs to be strengthened. 

• Baseline data are not easily available for several key areas. 

• There is changing participation in the IWGs. 

• External input from stakeholders outside the government is needed. 

Key Milestones Milestone 

Due Date

Milestone

Status

Owner Anticipated Barriers or Other Issues Related to 

Milestone Completion

Working groups finalized for each sub-goal, 

including executive secretary

06/2014 Missed FC-STEM NSF co-lead for PK-12 IWG has been announced. 

The IWG co-lead for Undergrad IWG needs to be 

selected.

Identify baseline data, when appropriate, using 

relevant data sources

08/2014 Complete FC-STEM 

Identify and support opportunities for 

collaboration across working groups

12/2014 Complete FC-STEM 

Key milestones/metrics/indicators established

for all sub-goals 

01/2015* At risk FC-STEM A potential obstacle may be the lack of regularly 

collected metrics. A joint meeting of all co-leads 

to develop milestones was held in August and 

discussed in October at an FC-STEM meeting. 

Simplification of key processes such as 

development of Memoranda of Understandings 

(MOU) to encourage common procedures and 

collaborations

03/2015 On track FC-STEM No barriers identified.

*Due date revised. The original due date was 08/2014. The interagency working groups required more time to develop 

milestones for each sub-goal. 

Work Plan Sub-goal 1: P-12 STEM Education 

7 

Key Milestones (Lead: Department of 

Education / NSF)

Milestone 

Due Date 

Milestone

Status 

Owner Anticipated Barriers or Other Issues Related to 

Milestone Completion 

Identify opportunities to leverage related 

efforts of IWG on Undergraduate Education

12/2014 Complete IWG P-12, 

IWG 

Undergrad

Potential obstacles include range of purposes 

motivating agency commitment to undergraduate 

and P-12 education, including preservice teacher prep 

and authentic research experiences for 

teachers/undergrads.

Create a repository of best practices and 

research related to teacher preparation and 

professional learning 

02/2015* On track IWG P-12 Potential obstacles include range of efforts from 

various agencies to engage teachers in professional 

development and limited programs that directly 

support teacher preparation.

Conduct an in-depth analysis of one regional 

“hotspot zone” to identify all relevant federal 

asset activity, programs, and local nongovernmental efforts to improve STEM 

instruction

02/2015** On track IWG P-12 Initial analysis has been limited in scope to three 

areas: Hunstsville, AL; Minneapolis, MN; and, 

Baltimore area, MD.

Limitations may include agency presence in selected 

areas. 

Conduct focus group sessions with Institutes

of Higher Education (IHE) faculty responsible 

for educating pre-service teachers around 

using evidence-based STEM learning 

opportunities and federal resources. Prepare 

analysis of sessions.

06/2015 On track IWG-P12 Time constraints for participants are a potential 

obstacle.

• Support teacher preparation efforts that encourage use of evidence-based STEM learning opportunities 

• Increase authentic STEM experiences for teachers 

*Due date revised. The original due date was 09/2014. NSF is working with possible Congressional report language along this line. 

**Due date revised. The original due date was 11/2014. Identifying all federal activities has been more challenging for some agencies 

than originally anticipated. 

Work Plan Sub-goal 2: Engagement in STEM Education

8 

Key Milestones (Lead: Smithsonian Institute / 

NASA) 

Milestone 

Due Date

Milestone

Status 

Owner Anticipated Barriers or Other Issues Related 

to Milestone Completion 

Identify STEM Engagement Activities of CoSTEM 

agencies

12/2014* Missed IWGEngagement

Group leadership is in transition; FC-STEM cochairs are involved in finding solutions.

Identify evaluation models used to effectively 

study engagement

01/2015** At risk IWGEngagement

Group leadership is in transition; FC-STEM cochairs are involved in finding solutions.

Implementation of agency commitments related 

to making and student engagement announced 

by President Obama at the White House Maker 

Faire

06/2015 On track OSTP No barriers identified.

• Access to scientific and engineering assets of the federal government 

• Integration of STEM into school readiness and after-school programs 

• Empirical understanding of how STEM experiences influence learning 

*Due date revised. The original due date was 07/2014. The IWG met only occasionally until July 2014 when a co-chair was added, 

although it was possible to accomplish some collection of materials prior to that. 

**Due date revised. The original due date was 09/2014. The IWG did not start meeting until July. 

COORDINATING FEDERAL SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS (STEM) 

EDUCATION: PROGRESS REPORT 

APPENDIX: FY 2015 QUARTERLY UPDATES ON STEM EDUCATION PROGRESS REPORT

30
Work Plan Sub-goal 3: Undergraduate STEM Education 

9 

Key Milestones (Lead: NSF/TBD) Milestone 

Due Date 

Milestone 

Status 

Owner Anticipated Barriers or Other Issues Related to 

Milestone Completion 

Leverage related efforts of IWG on Graduate 

Education:

A) Identify opportunities for collaboration 

B) Develop an undergraduate research 

experiences portal 

12/2014 

(A)

Complete IWG 

Undergrad

No barriers identified. 

12/2015 

(B)

On track IWG 

Undergrad

No barriers identified. 

Identify opportunities to leverage related 

efforts of IWG on P-12 Education 

12/2014 Complete IWG 

Undergrad

Potential obstacles include range of purposes 

motivating agency commitment to undergraduate and 

P-12 education, including preservice teacher 

education.

Develop an online, cross-agency resource of 

federal programs of interest to community 

colleges

12/2014 Complete IWG

Undergrad

No barriers identified. 

• Implementation of evidence-based instructional practices and innovations 

• Improve STEM education at 2-year colleges and transfer to 4-year colleges 

• Support the development of university-industry partnerships to provide relevant and authentic experiences 

• Address high failure rates in introductory mathematics at undergraduate 

Work Plan Sub-goal 3: Undergraduate STEM Education 

10 

• Implementation of evidence-based instructional practices and innovations 

• Improve STEM education at 2-year colleges and transfer to 4-year colleges 

• Support the development of university-industry partnerships to provide relevant and authentic experiences 

• Address high failure rates in introductory mathematics at undergraduate 

Key Milestones (Lead: NSF/TBD) Milestone 

Due Date 

Milestone 

Status 

Owner Anticipated Barriers or Other Issues Related to 

Milestone Completion 

Include item on undergraduate mathematics 

instruction in 2009 High School Longitudinal 

Survey (HSLS) second follow up:

A) Decision to do in-depth cognitive testing 

or field testing on new item for the HSLS 

on undergraduate mathematics 

instruction 

B) Item integrated into HSLS Second Followup 

C) Survey data collected from HSLS 

D) Survey results available 

12/2014 

(A)

Complete IWG 

Undergrad

No barriers identified. 

4/2015 

(B)

On track IWG 

Undergrad

Dependent on A

12/2016 

(C)

On track IWG 

Undergrad

Dependent on B

12/2017

(D)

On track IWG 

Undergrad

Dependent on C

Work Plan Sub-goal 3: Undergraduate STEM Education 

11 

• Implementation of evidence-based instructional practices and innovations 

• Improve STEM education at 2-year colleges and transfer to 4-year colleges 

• Support the development of university-industry partnerships to provide relevant and authentic experiences 

• Address high failure rates in introductory mathematics at undergraduate 

Key Milestones (Lead: NSF/TBD) Milestone 

Due Date 

Milestone 

Status 

Owner Anticipated Barriers or Other Issues Related to 

Milestone Completion 

Identify common evaluation elements for 

undergraduate authentic STEM experiences to 

be used across Federal agencies:

Phase 1: Common Indicator Metrics Analysis

Phase 2: Preliminary Research Study to Pool 

Common Data

On track IWG 

Undergrad

Potential obstacles include range of purposes 

motivating agency commitment to undergraduate 

research and intern opportunities.

08/2015 On track IWG 

Undergrad

02/2016 On track IWG 

Undergrad

Dependent on Phase 1. 

Identify opportunities to leverage related 

efforts of IWG on Broadening Participation

07/2015 On track IWG 

Undergrad

Potential obstacles include range of purposes 

motivating agency commitment to undergraduate

education and broadening participation initiatives. 

Develop a Minority Serving Community 

College and federal agency convening to share 

information and resources about agency grant 

opportunities with MSIs 

10/2015 On track IWG 

Undergrad

Development of an Undergraduate Education 

Forum that aligns with the four strategic 

objectives

02/2016 On track IWG 

Undergrad

Work Plan Sub-goal 4: Broadening Participation in STEM 

Fields 

12 

Key Milestones (Lead: NIH/NSF) Milestone 

Due Date

Milestone 

Status 

Owner Anticipated Barriers or Other Issues Related to 

Milestone Completion 

Create a repository for reports, literature, and 

committee products and deliverables for 

subgroups assigned to each major action item

12/2014 Complete IWG Coleads 

OMB Max site created and populated with meeting 

minutes, roster, and related materials. DropBox site 

also created with identical documents. OMB Max will 

be primary site for most.

Meet with leads for UG, Graduate, K12, and 

Engagement IWGs to identify opportunities for 

collaboration and leveraging of efforts

3/2015* On track IWG BP Meetings with working groups are progressing; 

however, scheduling is a challenge. 

Conduct a review of existing portfolio of BP 

efforts (federal)and non-federal models and 

approaches using the FC STEM inventory, 

presentations, literature reviews, and reports

6/2015 On track IWG BP After two meetings, it is clear that the committee 

needs to gain a better understanding of federal 

portfolio, as well as reports and literature on practices 

and challenges.

Develop a summary document which includes 

best practices (BP), challenges, and needs in BP 

to support strategies and recommendations 

designed to focus federal BP investments

6/2015 On track IWG BP No barriers identified.

Agencies identify and begin implementation of 

modifications to existing program portfolio to 

address gaps to provide more opportunities for 

URMs in STEM

9/2015** On track IWG BP No barriers identified.

• Be more responsive to rapidly changing demographics 

• Focus investments 

• Invest in efforts to create campus climates that are effective in improving success for students from underrepresented groups 

**Due date revised. The original due date was 02/2015. IWG-BP is holding joint meetings with the other IWGs, not just the co-leads, so scheduling is a 

challenge. 

**Due date revised. The original due date was 01/2015. The IWG held its first meeting in August 2014 and needs time to review existing research, programs, 

and exemplary models both within and outside of the federal government to help identify gaps and make recommendations for enhancements. 

COORDINATING FEDERAL SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS (STEM) 

EDUCATION: PROGRESS REPORT 

APPENDIX: FY 2015 QUARTERLY UPDATES ON STEM EDUCATION PROGRESS REPORT

31
Work Plan Sub-goal 4: Broadening Participation in STEM 

Fields 

13 

Key Milestones (Lead: NIH/NSF) Milestone 

Due Date

Milestone 

Status 

Owner Anticipated Barriers or Other Issues Related to 

Milestone Completion 

Agencies identify strategies and timeline for 

incorporating campus climate guidelines and 

best practices into funding opportunities

10/2015* On track IWG BP No barriers identified.

Ideas proposed to maximize the impact of the 

federal investment with a timeline for agency 

adoption

12/2015** On track IWG BP No barriers identified.

• Be more responsive to rapidly changing demographics 

• Focus investments 

• Invest in efforts to create campus climates that are effective in improving success for students from underrepresented groups 

*Due date revised. The original due date was 06/2015. The IWG held its first meeting in August 2014 and needs more 

time to complete this milestone. 

**Due date revised. The original due date was 10/2014. The IWG held its first meeting in August 2014. 

Work Plan Sub-goal 5: Graduate STEM Education 

14 

Key Milestones (Lead: NSF/NIH) Milestone 

Due Date 

Milestone 

Status 

Owner Anticipated Barriers or Other Issues Related to Milestone 

Completion 

Establish MOUs across agencies to broaden 

research opportunities of NSF fellows

10/2014 Complete IWG Grad No barriers identified.

Assemble inventory of evaluation approaches 

for graduate programs

01/2015 Complete IWG Grad No barriers identified. 

Identify available resources for the evaluation 

of graduate programs

01/2015 Complete IWG Grad No barriers identified. 

Identify options such as courses and 

internships to enhance the quality of graduate 

training to better address the needs of a 

future STEM workforce

01/2015 Complete IWG Grad No barriers identified. 

Create common portal for fellowship and 

traineeship opportunities for graduate 

students

03/2015* On track IWG Grad No barriers identified. 

Expand MOU partners to include most 

CoSTEM partners in opportunities for NSF 

fellows

12/2015 On track IWG Grad No barriers identified. 

Expand Portal to include undergraduate 

research opportunities 

12/2015 On track IWG Grad 

and IWG 

Undergrad 

No barriers identified. 

• Recognize and provide financial support to students of high potential 

• Provide opportunities for fellows’ preparation in areas critical to the nation 

• Combine and enhance mechanisms that evaluate the impact of fellowships to inform future federal investments 

*Due date revised. The original due date was 02/2015. Additional time is needed for design of the portal. 

Key Indicators

15 

Key Implementation Data* 

Indicator Source Baseline Target? Frequency Latest data Trend 

Percentage of high school mathematics and 

science teachers who hold degrees in their 

teaching field or in science of mathematics 

education

Science and 

Engineering 

Indicators 

(S&EI) 2014

2012 (See 

slide 18)

N/A Reported in 

S&EI 2014

biannually but 

based on 

variable survey 

2012

Number of STEM bachelor’s degrees earned 

annually

S&EI 2014 554,365 (See 

slides 19 and 

20)

N/A Biannually 2011 Increasing

Percentage of bachelor’s degrees awarded to 

women, black or African American, Hispanic, and 

American Indian or Alaska Native students 

S&EI 2014 2011 (See 

slides 21-24) 

N/A Biannually 2011 Increasing

Indicators in Development:

Potential High Level Indicator Potential Target Areas

• Teachers’ science and mathematics content knowledge for 

teaching 

• Number of STEM graduate students at institutions by mechanism 

of support and supporting federal agency 

*Updated data will be available January 2016 in Science and Engineering Indicators, 2016. 

Teachers’ Science and Mathematics Content Knowledge for 

Teaching 

16 

The Education and Human Resources (EHR) Directorate partnered with NSF’s National Center for Science and 

Engineering Statistics (NCSES) in the Directorate of the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE) to 

develop a two-year task, awarded to SRI, to provide insight on ways to reconfigure the K-12 chapter in the 

biennial Science and Engineering Indicators (SEI) that incorporates, over time, the 14 indicators identified in the 

Monitoring Progress report. Indicator 6 is Teachers’ science and mathematics content knowledge for teaching. 

SRI created a “roadmap” of indicators available in the short-term, as well as those that will require further 

research and development: 

 

Currently Available Data 

• Data from Hill (Harvard) and the MET Project 

• Teacher perceptions of preparedness from National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), Trends in 

International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), and National Survey of Science and Mathematics 

Education (NSSME) 

• B&B, HSLS, and Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) data on college coursework 

Near-Term Activities 

• Assemble and compare existing survey data and data from Hill and MET studies 

• Review and synthesize what is known about correlations between these measures and student achievement 

Long-Term Activities 

• Develop instruments to measure teacher content knowledge for teaching for science and high school math 

• Develop non-survey measures to get at knowledge in use 

Additional Research Needs 

• Relationship between college backgrounds and self-reports of preparedness and direct assessments of 

content knowledge for teaching 

• Cost-effective measures for direct assessments at scale 

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Contributing Programs

17 

The Federal Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Portfolio is a 

report from the Federal Inventory of STEM Education Fast-Track Action Committee that 

was published in December 2011. 

The inventory details federal agencies’ spending on STEM education and differs from 

previous such inventories in several ways. 

• A consistent unit of analysis was used across all agencies (henceforth labeled as an 

“investment”); 

• the design and implementation of the inventory survey included extensive agency 

involvement; and 

• a more thorough and detailed characterization of each agency’s investments was 

obtained. 

The result of these differences is a clearer and more complete picture of the federal 

investment in STEM education than has previously been available. 

http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/costem__federal_stem_education_portfolio_report_1.pdf 

Mathematics and Science Teachers with an Undergraduate or 

Graduate Degree in Mathematics or Science, by Grade Level (2012)

18 

(Percent)

Mathematics 

Mathematics 

education 

Mathematics or 

mathematics 

education 

None of 

these 

fields

Science or

engineering 

Science 

education 

Science,

engineering, 

or science 

education 

None of 

these 

fields

Elementary 4 2 4 96 4 2 5 95

Middle 23 26 35 65 26 27 41 59

High 52 54 73 27 61 48 82 18

Mathematics and science teachers with an undergraduate or graduate degree in mathematics or science, 

by grade level: 2012

Mathematics teachers' degree Science teachers' degree

Grade level

SOURCE: Banilower ER, Smith PS, Weiss IR, Malzahn KA, Campbell KM, Weis AM, Report of the 2012 National Survey of Science 

and Mathematics Education (2013).

Number of STEM Bachelor’s Degrees Earned Annually (2011)

19 

Appendix table 2-1 

Degree and institution type All fields All S&E

Agricultur

al sciences

Biological 

sciences

Computer 

sciences

Earth, 

atmospheric

, and ocean 

sciences Mathematics

Physical 

sciences Psychology

Social 

sciences Engineering

Bachelor’s 1,734,229 554,365 22,759 93,654 43,586 5,299 18,021 19,198 101,568 172,181 78,099

Doctorate-granting universities—very high research activit 444,695 210,425 10,283 37,626 8,193 2,023 6,682 6,852 28,402 69,114 41,250

Doctorate-granting universities—high research activity 249,963 82,410 3,812 13,668 4,909 869 2,176 2,490 13,832 23,135 17,519

Doctoral/research universities 121,588 30,818 874 4,391 4,231 265 835 964 5,389 10,657 3,212

Master’s colleges and universities 647,346 158,483 5,162 24,340 16,319 1,397 5,677 5,614 40,877 47,776 11,321

Baccalaureate colleges 199,039 64,878 2,577 12,804 5,554 728 2,626 3,206 12,620 21,163 3,600

Associate’s colleges 6,079 845 33 21 778 0 0 0 6 1 6

Medical schools and medical centers 6,435 66 0 66 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Schools of engineering 1,329 1,168 0 5 41 14 9 25 0 2 1,072

Other specialized institutions 48,610 3,929 0 623 2,679 0 5 37 320 204 61

Tribal colleges 230 68 18 0 2 0 0 0 3 45 0

Not classified 8,915 1,275 0 110 880 3 11 10 119 84 58

S&E field 

S&E degrees awarded, by degree level, Carnegie institution type, and field: 2011

NOTES: Medical and other health sciences are included in non-S&E. Carnegie institution type corresponds to the 2010 Carnegie Classification of Academic Institutions.

SOURCES: National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, Completions Survey; National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Integrated 

Science and Engineering Resources Data System (WebCASPAR), http://webcaspar.nsf.gov .

Bachelor’s Degrees by Broad Field of Degree: 2000-11

20 

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33
Percentage of Bachelor's Degrees Awarded to Women 

21 

(Percent)

Year Physical sciences

Biological/agricultural 

sciences Mathematics Computer sciences Psychology Social sciences Engineering

2000 40.8 55.8 47.8 28.0 76.5 54.2 20.5

2001 41.6 57.3 48.0 27.6 77.5 54.8 20.1

2002 42.7 58.6 46.9 27.5 77.5 54.8 20.9

2003 41.7 59.7 45.6 27.0 77.7 54.7 20.3

2004 42.2 60.1 45.9 25.1 77.8 54.5 20.5

2005 42.6 59.9 44.6 22.3 77.8 54.2 20.0

2006 42.2 59.8 44.9 20.7 77.4 53.7 19.5

2007 41.1 58.6 43.9 18.6 77.4 53.8 18.5

2008 41.1 58.2 43.9 17.7 77.1 53.5 18.5

2009 41.0 58.2 43.0 17.9 77.2 53.6 18.1

2010 40.9 57.8 43.1 18.2 77.1 53.7 18.4

2011 40.3 58.1 43.0 17.7 77.0 54.2 18.8

Women’s share of S&E bachelor’s degrees, by field: 2000–11

NOTE: Physical sciences include earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences. 

SOURCES: National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, Completions Survey; Nation al Science Foundation, National Center for 

Science and Engineering Statistics, WebCASPAR database, http://webcaspar.nsf.gov.

Science and Engineering Indicators 2014

Women’s Share of S&E Bachelor’s Degrees by Field: 2000-11

22 

Percentage of Bachelor's Degrees Awarded by Race and 

Ethnicity (2011) 

23 

(Percent)

Year Asian or Pacific Islander Black or African American Hispanic

American Indian or

Alaska Native White

2000 9.3 8.6 7.3 0.7 70.5

2001 9.5 8.7 7.4 0.7 69.6

2002 9.4 8.7 7.5 0.7 69.2

2003 9.4 8.7 7.7 0.7 68.5

2004 9.4 8.8 7.7 0.7 67.7

2005 9.6 8.8 7.9 0.7 67.2

2006 9.7 8.7 8.0 0.7 67.1

2007 9.7 8.6 8.2 0.7 66.8

2008 9.9 8.6 8.5 0.7 66.1

2009 9.9 8.6 8.8 0.7 65.5

2010 9.9 8.6 9.1 0.7 64.4

2011 9.8 8.7 9.6 0.6 63.4

Share of S&E bachelor’s degrees among U.S. citizens and permanent residents, by race and ethnicity: 2000–11

NOTES: Hispanic may be any race. American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian or Pacific Islander, black, or African American and white refer to individuals 

who are not of Hispanic origin. Percentages do not sum to 100 because data do not include individuals who did not report thei r race and ethnicity.

SOURCES: National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, Completions Survey; Nation al Science Foundation, 

National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, WebCASPAR database, http://webcaspar.nsf.gov.

Science and Engineering Indicators 2014

Share of S&E Bachelor's Degrees among U.S. Citizens and 

Permanent Residents by Race and Ethnicity: 2000-11 

24 

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34
STEM Education 

Goal Leaders: 

Jo Handelsman, Associate Director for Science, White House Office 

of Science and Technology Policy 

Joan Ferrini-Mundy, Assistant Director, National Science 

Foundation, Education and Human Resources 

 

FY2015 Quarter 2 

Cross Agency Priority Goal 

Quarterly Progress Update

1 

Overview 

2 

Goal Statement 

Improve science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education by implementing the Federal STEM 

Education 5-Year Strategic Plan, announced in May 2013, specifically: 

• Improve STEM instruction 

• Increase and sustain youth and public engagement in STEM 

• Enhance STEM experience of undergraduate students 

• Better serve groups historically under-represented in STEM fields 

• Design graduate education for tomorrow’s STEM workforce 

• Build new models for leveraging assets and expertise 

• Build and use evidence-based approaches 

Urgency 

• Advances in STEM have long been central to our nation’s economy, security, and ability to preserve the health 

of its people and the environment; enhancing U.S. students’ engagement and success in STEM disciplines is 

essential to the U.S. maintaining its preeminent position in the world. 

• We have considerable progress to make given that our K-12 system ranks “middle of the pack” in international 

comparisons. 

• Meeting the growing demand for STEM expertise and competency is important to the economy and our 

democracy. 

• Increasing opportunities in STEM for more Americans is critical to building a just and inclusive society. 

Vision 

• The Federal STEM Education 5-Year Strategic Plan sets out ambitious national goals to drive federal investment 

in five priority STEM education areas toward which significant progress will require improved coherence and 

coordination across federal agencies with STEM assets and expertise and STEM education resources. 

Progress Update 

3 

Federal Coordination in STEM Education (FC-STEM) updates: 

x New leads identified for the P-12, Graduate, and Engagement IWGs to replace people who have left. 

Collaborations examples: 

x Cross-agency partnership examples: 

 The Department of Education’s 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC) program is piloting collaborations 

with the National Park Service and the Institute of Museum and Library Services and is expanding its NASA 

collaboration to include additional sites and engineering challenges (Engagement Priority Goal). 

 In addition to the existing four agencies (Office of Naval Research, Smithsonian Institution, Federal Bureau of 

Investigation (FBI), and Department of Homeland Security( DHS)), the Graduate Research Internship Program (GRIP) 

added three partners, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

(NOAA), and Census Bureau (Graduate Priority Goal). 

 The Graduate Education IWG created a common portal for fellowship and traineeship opportunities across the federal 

government for graduate students and is working with the Undergraduate Education IWG to include undergraduate 

opportunities. 

Meetings and Outreach 

• The Performance Improvement Council facilitated an interactive brainstorming session for FC-STEM to discuss how to 

increase access to, and availability of, authentic experiences for both pre-service teachers and students at the P-12 

through graduate levels. The session focused on a plan of action for meaningful impact (March 2015). 

• The Broadening Participation IWG met with the P-12, Undergraduate, and Graduate IWGs to discuss potential 

collaborations. The IWGs are developing possible joint milestones to achieve common objectives. 

Action Plan Summary

4 

Sub-goal Major Strategies to Achieve Impact Key indicators

1. Improve STEM 

instruction 

• Support teacher preparation efforts that encourage use of evidence-based STEM learning 

opportunities 

• Increase and improve authentic STEM experiences for teachers 

•Percentage of high 

school 

mathematics and 

science teachers 

who hold degrees 

in their teaching 

field or in science 

of mathematics 

education 

•Number of STEM 

bachelor’s degrees 

earned annually 

•Percentage of 

bachelor’s degrees 

awarded to 

women, black or 

African American, 

Hispanic, and 

American Indian or 

Alaska Native 

students 

(Plus further 

indicators in 

development – see 

slide 15) 

2. Increase and sustain 

youth and public 

engagement in 

STEM 

• Provide access to scientific and engineering assets of the federal government 

• Integrate STEM into school-readiness and after-school programs 

• Improve empirical understanding of how authentic STEM experiences influence learning or interest 

3. Enhance STEM 

experience of 

undergraduate 

students 

• Implement evidence-based instructional practices and innovations 

• Improve STEM education at 2-year colleges and transfer to 4-year colleges 

• Support the development of university-industry partnerships to provide relevant and authentic 

experiences 

• Address high failure rates in introductory undergraduate mathematics 

4. Better serve groups 

historically underrepresented in 

STEM fields 

• Be more responsive to rapidly changing demographics 

• Focus investments on developing and testing strategies for improving preparation for higher 

education 

• Invest in efforts to create campus climates that are effective in improving success for students from 

under-represented groups 

5. Design graduate 

education for 

tomorrow’s STEM 

workforce 

• Recognize and provide financial support to students of high potential 

• Provide opportunities for fellows’ preparation in areas critical to the Nation 

• Combine and enhance mechanisms that evaluate the impact of fellowships to inform future Federal 

investments 

6. Build new models 

for leveraging assets 

and expertise 

• Collaborate to build implementation roadmaps in the goal areas 

• Reduce administrative barriers to collaboration 

• Develop a framework to guide coordinated CoSTEM agency budget requests 

7. Build and use 

evidence-based 

approaches 

• Support syntheses of existing research on critical issues in STEM priority areas 

• Improve and align evaluation and research strategies across Federal agencies 

• Streamline processes for interagency collaboration 

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35
STEM Education Goal Team and Governance Plan 

5 

Oversight and Project Management of 

Implementation Working Groups 

Goal Leaders: Joan Ferrini-Mundy and Jo Handelsman 

Deputy Goal Leaders: National Science Foundation (NSF) and 

Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) 

Undergraduate 

STEM 

Education 

Co-Leads: 

• NSF 

• Department of 

Defense 

Underrepresented 

Groups 

Co-Leads: 

• NSF 

• National 

Institutes of 

Health (NIH) 

Graduate 

Education 

Co-Leads: 

• NSF 

• NIH 

P-12 STEM 

Instruction 

Co-Leads: 

• Department 

of Education 

• NSF 

Engagement 

Co-Leads: 

• Smithsonian 

• NASA 

Coordination 

Objectives 

Lead: 

• FC-STEM 

Governance 

• Co-STEM: Jo Handelsman (OSTP) and France Córdova (NSF) are Co-Chairs. Annual 

report from FC-STEM to Co-STEM 

• FC-STEM: Joan Ferrini-Mundy (NSF) and Donald James (NASA) are Co-Chairs. 

Quarterly reports from Inter-agency Working Groups to FC-STEM 

Work Plan: Governance and Coordination

6 

• Build new models for leveraging assets and expertise. 

• Build and use evidence based approaches. 

Barriers/Challenges 

• Baseline data are not easily available for several key areas. 

• There is changing participation in the IWGs. 

• External input from stakeholders outside the government is needed. 

Key Milestones Milestone 

Due Date

Milestone

Status

Owner Anticipated Barriers or Other Issues Related to 

Milestone Completion

Working groups finalized for each sub-goal, 

including executive secretary

06/2014 Missed FC-STEM The IWG co-lead for Undergrad IWG needs to be 

selected. 

Identify baseline data, when appropriate, using 

relevant data sources

08/2014 Complete FC-STEM 

Identify and support opportunities for 

collaboration across working groups

12/2014 Complete FC-STEM 

Key milestones/metrics/indicators established

for all sub-goals 

01/2015* Missed FC-STEM A potential obstacle may be the lack of regularly 

collected metrics. Several of the IWGs are 

working with the PIC to identify key indicators.

Simplification of key processes such as 

development of Memoranda of Understandings 

(MOU) to encourage common procedures and 

collaborations

03/2015 Missed FC-STEM Greater collaboration among agencies has 

occurred, but common procedures still need to 

be implemented. 

*Due date revised. The original due date was 08/2014. The interagency working groups required more time to develop 

milestones for each sub-goal. 

Work Plan Sub-goal 1: P-12 STEM Education 

7 

Key Milestones (Lead: Department of 

Education / NSF)

Milestone 

Due Date 

Milestone

Status 

Owner Anticipated Barriers or Other Issues Related to 

Milestone Completion 

Identify opportunities to leverage related 

efforts of IWG on Undergraduate Education

12/2014 Complete IWG P-12, 

IWG 

Undergrad

Potential obstacles include range of purposes 

motivating agency commitment to undergraduate 

and P-12 education, including preservice teacher prep 

and authentic research experiences for 

teachers/undergrads.

Create a repository of best practices and 

research related to teacher preparation and 

professional learning 

02/2015* Complete IWG P-12 

Conduct an in-depth analysis of one regional 

“hotspot zone” to identify all relevant federal 

asset activity, programs, and local nongovernmental efforts to improve STEM 

instruction

02/2015** Complete IWG P-12 Initial analysis has been limited in scope to three 

areas: Hunstsville, AL; Minneapolis, MN; and, 

Baltimore area, MD.

Conduct focus group sessions with Institutes

of Higher Education (IHE) faculty responsible 

for educating pre-service teachers around 

using evidence-based STEM learning 

opportunities and federal resources. Prepare 

analysis of sessions.

06/2015 On track IWG-P12 Time constraints for participants are a potential 

obstacle.

• Support teacher preparation efforts that encourage use of evidence-based STEM learning opportunities 

• Increase authentic STEM experiences for teachers 

*Due date revised. The original due date was 09/2014. NSF is working with possible Congressional report language along this line. 

**Due date revised. The original due date was 11/2014. Identifying all federal activities has been more challenging for some agencies 

than originally anticipated. 

Work Plan Sub-goal 2: Engagement in STEM Education

8 

Key Milestones (Lead: Smithsonian Institute / 

NASA) 

Milestone 

Due Date

Milestone

Status 

Owner Anticipated Barriers or Other Issues Related 

to Milestone Completion 

Identify STEM Engagement Activities of CoSTEM 

agencies

12/2014* Missed IWGEngagement

Group leadership is in transition; FC-STEM cochairs are involved in finding solutions.

Identify evaluation models used to effectively 

study engagement

01/2015** Missed IWGEngagement

Group leadership is in transition; FC-STEM cochairs are involved in finding solutions.

Implementation of agency commitments related 

to making and student engagement announced 

by President Obama at the White House Maker 

Faire

06/2015 On track OSTP No barriers identified.

• Access to scientific and engineering assets of the federal government 

• Integration of STEM into school readiness and after-school programs 

• Empirical understanding of how STEM experiences influence learning 

*Due date revised. The original due date was 07/2014. The IWG met only occasionally until July 2014 when a co-chair was added, 

although it was possible to accomplish some collection of materials prior to that. 

**Due date revised. The original due date was 09/2014. The IWG did not start meeting until July. 

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Work Plan Sub-goal 3: Undergraduate STEM Education 

9 

Key Milestones (Lead: NSF/TBD) Milestone 

Due Date 

Milestone 

Status 

Owner Anticipated Barriers or Other Issues Related to 

Milestone Completion 

Leverage related efforts of IWG on Graduate 

Education:

A) Identify opportunities for collaboration 

B) Develop an undergraduate research 

experiences portal 

12/2014 

(A)

Complete IWG 

Undergrad

No barriers identified. 

12/2015 

(B)

On track IWG 

Undergrad

No barriers identified. 

Identify opportunities to leverage related 

efforts of IWG on P-12 Education 

12/2014 Complete IWG 

Undergrad

Potential obstacles include range of purposes 

motivating agency commitment to undergraduate and 

P-12 education, including preservice teacher 

education.

Develop an online, cross-agency resource of 

federal programs of interest to community 

colleges

12/2014 Complete IWG

Undergrad

No barriers identified. 

• Implementation of evidence-based instructional practices and innovations 

• Improve STEM education at 2-year colleges and transfer to 4-year colleges 

• Support the development of university-industry partnerships to provide relevant and authentic experiences 

• Address high failure rates in introductory mathematics at undergraduate 

Work Plan Sub-goal 3: Undergraduate STEM Education 

10 

• Implementation of evidence-based instructional practices and innovations 

• Improve STEM education at 2-year colleges and transfer to 4-year colleges 

• Support the development of university-industry partnerships to provide relevant and authentic experiences 

• Address high failure rates in introductory mathematics at undergraduate 

Key Milestones (Lead: NSF/TBD) Milestone 

Due Date 

Milestone 

Status 

Owner Anticipated Barriers or Other Issues Related to 

Milestone Completion 

Include item on undergraduate mathematics 

instruction in 2009 High School Longitudinal 

Survey (HSLS) second follow up:

A) Decision to do in-depth cognitive testing 

or field testing on new item for the HSLS 

on undergraduate mathematics 

instruction 

B) Item integrated into HSLS Second Followup 

C) Survey data collected from HSLS 

D) Survey results available 

12/2014 

(A)

Complete IWG 

Undergrad

No barriers identified. 

4/2015 

(B)

On track IWG 

Undergrad

Dependent on A

12/2016 

(C)

On track IWG 

Undergrad

Dependent on B

12/2017

(D)

On track IWG 

Undergrad

Dependent on C

Work Plan Sub-goal 3: Undergraduate STEM Education 

11 

• Implementation of evidence-based instructional practices and innovations 

• Improve STEM education at 2-year colleges and transfer to 4-year colleges 

• Support the development of university-industry partnerships to provide relevant and authentic experiences 

• Address high failure rates in introductory mathematics at undergraduate 

Key Milestones (Lead: NSF/TBD) Milestone 

Due Date 

Milestone 

Status 

Owner Anticipated Barriers or Other Issues Related to 

Milestone Completion 

Identify common evaluation elements for 

undergraduate authentic STEM experiences to 

be used across Federal agencies:

Phase 1: Common Indicator Metrics Analysis

Phase 2: Preliminary Research Study to Pool 

Common Data

On track IWG 

Undergrad

Potential obstacles include range of purposes 

motivating agency commitment to undergraduate 

research and intern opportunities.

08/2015 On track IWG 

Undergrad

02/2016 On track IWG 

Undergrad

Dependent on Phase 1. 

Identify opportunities to leverage related 

efforts of IWG on Broadening Participation

07/2015 On track IWG 

Undergrad

Potential obstacles include range of purposes 

motivating agency commitment to undergraduate

education and broadening participation initiatives. 

Develop a Minority Serving Community 

College and federal agency convening to share 

information and resources about agency grant 

opportunities with MSIs 

10/2015 On track IWG 

Undergrad

Development of an Undergraduate Education 

Forum that aligns with the four strategic 

objectives

02/2016 On track IWG 

Undergrad

Work Plan Sub-goal 4: Broadening Participation in STEM 

Fields 

12 

Key Milestones (Lead: NIH/NSF) Milestone 

Due Date

Milestone 

Status 

Owner Anticipated Barriers or Other Issues Related to 

Milestone Completion 

Create a repository for reports, literature, and 

committee products and deliverables for 

subgroups assigned to each major action item

12/2014 Complete IWG Coleads 

OMB Max site created and populated with meeting 

minutes, roster, and related materials. DropBox site 

also created with identical documents. OMB Max will 

be primary site for most.

Meet with leads for UG, Graduate, P-12, and 

Engagement IWGs to identify opportunities for 

collaboration and leveraging of efforts

3/2015* Complete IWG BP Meetings with UG, Graduate, and P-12 working 

groups completed. Engagement IWG meeting was 

attended by representative of BP IWG.

Conduct a review of existing portfolio of BP 

efforts (federal)and non-federal models and 

approaches using the FC STEM inventory, 

presentations, literature reviews, and reports

6/2015 On track IWG BP After two meetings, it is clear that the committee 

needs to gain a better understanding of federal 

portfolio, as well as reports and literature on practices 

and challenges.

Develop a summary document which includes 

BP, challenges, and needs in BP to support 

strategies and recommendations designed to 

focus federal BP investments

6/2015 On track IWG BP No barriers identified.

Agencies identify and begin implementation of 

modifications to existing program portfolio to 

address gaps to provide more opportunities for 

URMs in STEM

9/2015** On track IWG BP No barriers identified.

• Be more responsive to rapidly changing demographics 

• Focus investments 

• Invest in efforts to create campus climates that are effective in improving success for students from underrepresented groups 

*Due date revised. The original due date was 02/2015. IWG-BP is holding joint meetings with the other IWGs, not just the co-leads, so scheduling is a 

challenge. 

**Due date revised. The original due date was 01/2015. The IWG held its first meeting in August 2014 and needs time to review existing research, programs, 

and exemplary models both within and outside of the federal government to help identify gaps and make recommendations for enhancements. 

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Work Plan Sub-goal 4: Broadening Participation in STEM 

Fields 

13 

Key Milestones (Lead: NIH/NSF) Milestone 

Due Date

Milestone 

Status 

Owner Anticipated Barriers or Other Issues Related to 

Milestone Completion 

Agencies identify strategies and timeline for 

incorporating campus climate guidelines and 

best practices into funding opportunities

10/2015* On track IWG BP No barriers identified.

Ideas proposed to maximize the impact of the 

federal investment with a timeline for agency 

adoption

12/2015** On track IWG BP No barriers identified.

• Be more responsive to rapidly changing demographics 

• Focus investments 

• Invest in efforts to create campus climates that are effective in improving success for students from underrepresented groups 

*Due date revised. The original due date was 06/2015. The IWG held its first meeting in August 2014 and needs more 

time to complete this milestone. 

**Due date revised. The original due date was 10/2014. The IWG held its first meeting in August 2014. 

Work Plan Sub-goal 5: Graduate STEM Education 

14 

Key Milestones (Lead: NSF/NIH) Milestone 

Due Date 

Milestone 

Status 

Owner Anticipated Barriers or Other Issues Related to Milestone 

Completion 

Establish MOUs across agencies to broaden 

research opportunities of NSF fellows

10/2014 Complete IWG Grad No barriers identified.

Assemble inventory of evaluation approaches 

for graduate programs

01/2015 Complete IWG Grad No barriers identified. 

Identify available resources for the evaluation 

of graduate programs

01/2015 Complete IWG Grad No barriers identified. 

Identify options such as courses and 

internships to enhance the quality of graduate 

training to better address the needs of a 

future STEM workforce

01/2015 Complete IWG Grad No barriers identified. 

Create common portal for fellowship and 

traineeship opportunities for graduate 

students

03/2015* Complete IWG Grad No barriers identified. 

Hold a workshop with the Performance 

Improvement Council to begin to identify new 

milestones and indicators for 2016

04/2015 Complete IWG Grad No barriers identified.

• Recognize and provide financial support to students of high potential 

• Provide opportunities for fellows’ preparation in areas critical to the nation 

• Combine and enhance mechanisms that evaluate the impact of fellowships to inform future federal investments 

*Due date revised. The original due date was 02/2015. Additional time is needed for design of the portal. 

Work Plan Sub-goal 5: Graduate STEM Education 

15 

Key Milestones (Lead: NSF/NIH) Milestone 

Due Date 

Milestone 

Status 

Owner Anticipated Barriers or Other Issues Related to Milestone 

Completion 

Expand MOU partners to include most 

CoSTEM partners in opportunities for NSF 

fellows

12/2015 On track IWG Grad No barriers identified. 

Expand Portal to include undergraduate 

research opportunities 

12/2015 On track IWG Grad 

and IWG 

Undergrad 

No barriers identified. 

• Recognize and provide financial support to students of high potential 

• Provide opportunities for fellows’ preparation in areas critical to the nation 

• Combine and enhance mechanisms that evaluate the impact of fellowships to inform future federal investments 

*Due date revised. The original due date was 02/2015. Additional time is needed for design of the portal. 

Key Indicators*

16 

Key Implementation Data** 

Indicator Source Baseline Target? Frequency Latest data Trend 

Percentage of high school mathematics and 

science teachers who hold degrees in their 

teaching field or in science of mathematics 

education

Science and 

Engineering 

Indicators 

(S&EI) 2014

2012 (See 

slide 18)

N/A Reported in 

S&EI 2014

biannually but 

based on 

variable survey 

2012

Number of STEM bachelor’s degrees earned 

annually

S&EI 2014 554,365 (See 

slides 19 and 

20)

N/A Biannually 2011 Increasing

Percentage of bachelor’s degrees awarded to 

women, black or African American, Hispanic, and 

American Indian or Alaska Native students 

S&EI 2014 2011 (See 

slides 21-24) 

N/A Biannually 2011 Increasing

Indicators in Development:

Potential High Level Indicator Potential Target Areas

• Teachers’ science and mathematics content knowledge for 

teaching 

• Number of STEM graduate students at institutions by mechanism 

of support and supporting federal agency 

*The IWGs are working with the PIC to identify additional key indicators for the strategic objectives. 

**Updated data will be available January 2016 in Science and Engineering Indicators, 2016. 

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38
Teachers’ Science and Mathematics Content Knowledge for 

Teaching 

17 

The Education and Human Resources (EHR) Directorate partnered with NSF’s National Center for Science and 

Engineering Statistics (NCSES) in the Directorate of the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE) to 

develop a two-year task, awarded to SRI, to provide insight on ways to reconfigure the K-12 chapter in the 

biennial Science and Engineering Indicators (SEI) that incorporates, over time, the 14 indicators identified in the 

Monitoring Progress report. Indicator 6 is Teachers’ science and mathematics content knowledge for teaching. 

SRI created a “roadmap” of indicators available in the short-term, as well as those that will require further 

research and development: 

 

Currently Available Data 

• Data from Hill (Harvard) and the MET Project 

• Teacher perceptions of preparedness from National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), Trends in 

International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), and National Survey of Science and Mathematics 

Education (NSSME) 

• B&B, HSLS, and Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) data on college coursework 

Near-Term Activities 

• Assemble and compare existing survey data and data from Hill and MET studies 

• Review and synthesize what is known about correlations between these measures and student achievement 

Long-Term Activities 

• Develop instruments to measure teacher content knowledge for teaching for science and high school math 

• Develop non-survey measures to get at knowledge in use 

Additional Research Needs 

• Relationship between college backgrounds and self-reports of preparedness and direct assessments of 

content knowledge for teaching 

• Cost-effective measures for direct assessments at scale 

Contributing Programs

18 

The Federal Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Portfolio is a 

report from the Federal Inventory of STEM Education Fast-Track Action Committee that 

was published in December 2011. 

The inventory details federal agencies’ spending on STEM education and differs from 

previous such inventories in several ways. 

• A consistent unit of analysis was used across all agencies (henceforth labeled as an 

“investment”); 

• the design and implementation of the inventory survey included extensive agency 

involvement; and 

• a more thorough and detailed characterization of each agency’s investments was 

obtained. 

The result of these differences is a clearer and more complete picture of the federal 

investment in STEM education than has previously been available. 

http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/costem__federal_stem_education_portfolio_report_1.pdf 

Mathematics and Science Teachers with an Undergraduate or 

Graduate Degree in Mathematics or Science, by Grade Level (2012)

19 

(Percent)

Mathematics 

Mathematics 

education 

Mathematics or 

mathematics 

education 

None of 

these 

fields

Science or

engineering 

Science 

education 

Science,

engineering, 

or science 

education 

None of 

these 

fields

Elementary 4 2 4 96 4 2 5 95

Middle 23 26 35 65 26 27 41 59

High 52 54 73 27 61 48 82 18

Mathematics and science teachers with an undergraduate or graduate degree in mathematics or science, 

by grade level: 2012

Mathematics teachers' degree Science teachers' degree

Grade level

SOURCE: Banilower ER, Smith PS, Weiss IR, Malzahn KA, Campbell KM, Weis AM, Report of the 2012 National Survey of Science 

and Mathematics Education (2013).

Number of STEM Bachelor’s Degrees Earned Annually (2011)

20 

Appendix table 2-1 

Degree and institution type All fields All S&E

Agricultur

al sciences

Biological 

sciences

Computer 

sciences

Earth, 

atmospheric

, and ocean 

sciences Mathematics

Physical 

sciences Psychology

Social 

sciences Engineering

Bachelor’s 1,734,229 554,365 22,759 93,654 43,586 5,299 18,021 19,198 101,568 172,181 78,099

Doctorate-granting universities—very high research activit 444,695 210,425 10,283 37,626 8,193 2,023 6,682 6,852 28,402 69,114 41,250

Doctorate-granting universities—high research activity 249,963 82,410 3,812 13,668 4,909 869 2,176 2,490 13,832 23,135 17,519

Doctoral/research universities 121,588 30,818 874 4,391 4,231 265 835 964 5,389 10,657 3,212

Master’s colleges and universities 647,346 158,483 5,162 24,340 16,319 1,397 5,677 5,614 40,877 47,776 11,321

Baccalaureate colleges 199,039 64,878 2,577 12,804 5,554 728 2,626 3,206 12,620 21,163 3,600

Associate’s colleges 6,079 845 33 21 778 0 0 0 6 1 6

Medical schools and medical centers 6,435 66 0 66 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Schools of engineering 1,329 1,168 0 5 41 14 9 25 0 2 1,072

Other specialized institutions 48,610 3,929 0 623 2,679 0 5 37 320 204 61

Tribal colleges 230 68 18 0 2 0 0 0 3 45 0

Not classified 8,915 1,275 0 110 880 3 11 10 119 84 58

S&E field 

S&E degrees awarded, by degree level, Carnegie institution type, and field: 2011

NOTES: Medical and other health sciences are included in non-S&E. Carnegie institution type corresponds to the 2010 Carnegie Classification of Academic Institutions.

SOURCES: National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, Completions Survey; National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Integrated 

Science and Engineering Resources Data System (WebCASPAR), http://webcaspar.nsf.gov .

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Bachelor’s Degrees by Broad Field of Degree: 2000-11

21 

Percentage of Bachelor's Degrees Awarded to Women 

22 

(Percent)

Year Physical sciences

Biological/agricultural 

sciences Mathematics Computer sciences Psychology Social sciences Engineering

2000 40.8 55.8 47.8 28.0 76.5 54.2 20.5

2001 41.6 57.3 48.0 27.6 77.5 54.8 20.1

2002 42.7 58.6 46.9 27.5 77.5 54.8 20.9

2003 41.7 59.7 45.6 27.0 77.7 54.7 20.3

2004 42.2 60.1 45.9 25.1 77.8 54.5 20.5

2005 42.6 59.9 44.6 22.3 77.8 54.2 20.0

2006 42.2 59.8 44.9 20.7 77.4 53.7 19.5

2007 41.1 58.6 43.9 18.6 77.4 53.8 18.5

2008 41.1 58.2 43.9 17.7 77.1 53.5 18.5

2009 41.0 58.2 43.0 17.9 77.2 53.6 18.1

2010 40.9 57.8 43.1 18.2 77.1 53.7 18.4

2011 40.3 58.1 43.0 17.7 77.0 54.2 18.8

Women’s share of S&E bachelor’s degrees, by field: 2000–11

NOTE: Physical sciences include earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences. 

SOURCES: National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, Completions Survey; Nation al Science Foundation, National Center for 

Science and Engineering Statistics, WebCASPAR database, http://webcaspar.nsf.gov.

Science and Engineering Indicators 2014

Women’s Share of S&E Bachelor’s Degrees by Field: 2000-11

23 

Percentage of Bachelor's Degrees Awarded by Race and 

Ethnicity (2011) 

24 

(Percent)

Year Asian or Pacific Islander Black or African American Hispanic

American Indian or

Alaska Native White

2000 9.3 8.6 7.3 0.7 70.5

2001 9.5 8.7 7.4 0.7 69.6

2002 9.4 8.7 7.5 0.7 69.2

2003 9.4 8.7 7.7 0.7 68.5

2004 9.4 8.8 7.7 0.7 67.7

2005 9.6 8.8 7.9 0.7 67.2

2006 9.7 8.7 8.0 0.7 67.1

2007 9.7 8.6 8.2 0.7 66.8

2008 9.9 8.6 8.5 0.7 66.1

2009 9.9 8.6 8.8 0.7 65.5

2010 9.9 8.6 9.1 0.7 64.4

2011 9.8 8.7 9.6 0.6 63.4

Share of S&E bachelor’s degrees among U.S. citizens and permanent residents, by race and ethnicity: 2000–11

NOTES: Hispanic may be any race. American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian or Pacific Islander, black, or African American and white refer to individuals 

who are not of Hispanic origin. Percentages do not sum to 100 because data do not include individuals who did not report thei r race and ethnicity.

SOURCES: National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, Completions Survey; Nation al Science Foundation, 

National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, WebCASPAR database, http://webcaspar.nsf.gov.

Science and Engineering Indicators 2014

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Share of S&E Bachelor's Degrees among U.S. Citizens and 

Permanent Residents by Race and Ethnicity: 2000-11 

25 

Acronyms 

26 

• BP – Best Practices 

• CCLC – Century Community Learning Center 

• CoSTEM – Committee on Science, Technology, 

Engineering, and Mathematics 

• DHS – Department of Homeland Security 

• EHR – Education and Human Resources 

• EPA – Environmental Protection Agency 

• FBI – Federal Bureau of Investigation 

• GRIP – Graduate Research Internship Program 

• HSLS – High School Longitudinal Survey 

• IHE – Institutes of Higher Education 

• IWG – Interagency Working Group 

• MET – Measures of Effective Teaching 

• MOU – Memoranda of Understanding 

• MSI – Minority Serving Institution 

• NASA – National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration 

• NAEP – National Assessment of Educational Progress 

• NCSES – National Center for Science Engineering 

Statistics 

• NIH – National Institute of Health 

• NOAA – National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration 

• NSF – National Science Foundation 

• NSSME – National Survey of Science 

and Mathematics Education 

• OMB – Office of Budget and 

Management 

• OSTP – Office of Science and 

Technology 

• PIC – Performance Improvement 

Council 

• S&E – Science and Engineering 

• SBE – Social, Behavioral, and 

Economic Sciences 

• SEI – Science and Engineering 

Indicators 

• TALIS – Teaching and Learning 

International Survey 

• TIMSS – Trends in International 

Mathematics and Science Study 

STEM Education 

Goal Leaders: 

Jo Handelsman, Associate Director for Science, 

White House Office of Science and Technology Policy 

Joan Ferrini-Mundy, Assistant Director, 

National Science Foundation 

 

FY2015 Quarter 3 

Cross Agency Priority Goal 

Quarterly Progress Update

1 

Overview 

2 

Goal Statement 

Improve science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education by implementing the Federal STEM 

Education 5-Year Strategic Plan, announced in May 2013, specifically: 

• Improve STEM instruction 

• Increase and sustain youth and public engagement in STEM 

• Enhance STEM experience of undergraduate students 

• Better serve groups historically under-represented in STEM fields 

• Design graduate education for tomorrow’s STEM workforce 

• Build new models for leveraging assets and expertise 

• Build and use evidence-based approaches 

Urgency 

• Advances in STEM have long been central to our nation’s economy, security, and ability to preserve the health of 

its people and the environment; enhancing U.S. students’ engagement and success in STEM disciplines is 

essential to the U.S. maintaining its preeminent position in the world. 

• We have considerable progress to make given that our K-12 system ranks “middle of the pack” in international 

comparisons. 

• Meeting the growing demand for STEM expertise and competency is important to the economy and our 

democracy. 

• Increasing opportunities in STEM for more Americans is critical to building a just and inclusive society. 

Vision 

• The Federal STEM Education 5-Year Strategic Plan sets out ambitious national goals to drive federal investment in 

five priority STEM education areas toward which significant progress will require improved coherence and 

coordination across federal agencies with STEM assets and expertise and STEM education resources. 

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41
Progress Update: FY15 Quarter 3 Highlights 

3 

Federal Coordination in STEM Education (FC-STEM) updates: 

 Federal Coordination STEM (FC-STEM) convened with representation from all five Interagency Working Groups (IWGs), 

representatives of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the Performance Improvement Council (PIC) on 

May 27, 2015. The group discussed the remaining two and a half years of the Federal 5-Year STEM Strategic Plan and 

decided that FC-STEM leadership shall serve as the decision-making body for crucial IWG junctures as well as 

determining ways for FC-STEM to further support the IWG leadership. 

• A new co-lead was identified in Q3 for the Undergraduate Education IWG from the Department of Energy. 

CAP Goal Collaboration Events: 

 In support of the Federal 5-Year STEM Education Strategic Plan “Improve STEM Instruction” goal strategic objective 1 

(on effective teacher preparation), the P-12 IWG completed two listening sessions in Q3 with faculty working with preservice mathematics and science teachers to learn about current best practices for incorporating authentic STEM 

experiences in teacher preparation programs. These sessions illuminated the need for: 

• a convention or framework for “authentic STEM experiences.” 

• a centralized repository of and dissemination strategy for information about federal STEM education programs 

that support STEM teachers. 

Progress Update: FY15 Quarter 3 Highlights 

4 

CAP Goal Collaboration Events: (continued)

 To address the Federal STEM Education 5-Year Strategic Plan “Enhance STEM Experience of Undergraduate Students” 

goal strategic objectives 1 and 2 (on evidence-based instructional practices and support of 2-year colleges), the NSF 

sponsored a Community College Innovation Challenge (CCIC), informed and shaped by discussions in the Undergraduate 

IWG. Finalists in the challenge attended a weeklong boot camp, culminating in an event hosted on Capitol Hill on June 

15, 2015. Event announcements resulted in over 9 million tweets (LINK). 

 To examine undergraduate strategic objectives 1 and 4 (on evidence-based instructional practices and improving entrylevel mathematics), a new survey item is being developed for inclusion in the current High School Longitudinal Study of 

2009 Second Follow-Up (LINK). This is possible through collaboration among members of the Undergraduate IWG, NSF, 

and the Department of Education (ED). Many students enter college poorly prepared for mathematics, which is a gateway 

to college success in STEM and other disciplines. The new survey item will provide data on the mathematical instructional 

practices students experience in high school compared with those experienced in college. 

 The Underrepresented Groups IWG (also referred to as the Broadening Participation (BP) IWG) addressed the Federal 

STEM Education 5-Year Strategic Plan goal to “Better Serve Groups Historically Underrepresented in STEM Fields” 

strategic objective 1, which concerns the need to be more responsive to rapidly changing demographics and issues for 

groups underrepresented in STEM, and objective 2, which calls for more focused investments to prepare students for 

success in higher education, through two convenings:

• The BP IWG collaborated with Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) to plan and implement the Roundtable on Best Practices 

for Assessing Inclusive Environments on June 10, 2015 inform new strategies to improve the impact of the federal portfolio of 

investment in broadening participation across agencies. 

• The BP IWG Co-Chairs reported on the outcomes of the Roundtable at the subsequent meeting, the White House Forum on Excellence 

and Innovation through Diversity in the STEM Workforce, held on June 23, 2015. 

Progress Update: FY15 Quarter 3 Highlights 

5 

CAP Goal Collaboration Events: (continued) 

 In support of the Undergraduate IWG strategic objective 4 that addresses the concern that students who are interested in 

STEM and STEM-related careers have challenges moving ahead unless they have successful experiences in mathematics 

within their first two years of college, NSF released a A Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) inviting work focused on Increasing 

College Opportunity Through Improved Mathematics Success in the First Two Years of College. The DCL was NSF’s 

commitment to the White House December 4, 2014 College Opportunity Day of Action. Thirty grant awards were made 

in the third quarter by NSF in this area. 

 The BP IWG met with staff from the White House Council on Women and Girls to discuss Advancing Equity and 

Empowerment and Champions of Change plans for supporting under-represented women and girls in STEM, and staff 

from ED to discuss the work being done on the My Brother’s Keeper initiative. 

 The NSF Advisory Committee for Education and Human Resources (EHRAC) held a public meeting on May 19-20, 2015, at 

NSF to discuss the evolving nature of graduate STEM education in the United States (LINK). Panelists affiliated with 

numerous universities, the Council of Graduate Schools, The National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, the 

National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the National Science Board staff sought to identify appropriate graduate STEM 

education indicators, non-cognitive skills, and exploring the future of graduate STEM education. 

Progress Update: FY15 Quarter 3 Highlights 

6 

Meetings and Outreach: 

 To address Goals 1 and 2 of the Federal STEM 5-Year Strategic Plan, the Undergraduate Education IWG, along with the BP 

IWG, initiated joint outreach to the minority-serving institution (MSI) community colleges to increase participation in 

federal funding opportunities through the following events: 

• ED hosted an event on behalf of the Pacific Post-Secondary Education Council (PPEC) on June 24 featuring representatives from the 

DOE, Smithsonian, and NSF. Event participants included the presidents of community colleges and universities from Hawaii, Guam, the 

Marshall Islands, Palau, Micronesia, and American Samoa. PPEC leaders met with representatives of Federal agencies and left better 

informed to apply to Federal programs that support STEM education at their institutions. 

• ED hosted the Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions Program (AANAPISI) capacity-building 

workshop during the Asian Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund API Higher Education Summit on June 22, featuring 

representatives from the DOE, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and NSF. AANAPISI staff, faculty, students and presidents gained 

information about Federal opportunities. 

 To inform undergraduate strategic objective 3, focused on authentic undergraduate STEM experiences, the National 

Research Council study on undergraduate learning through research was launched on June 4, 2015, with NSF funding 

(LINK). 

 To advance undergraduate strategic objective 1 focused on evidence-based teaching, the National Research Council 

hosted a webinar entitled “Reaching Students: Putting the Book to Work to Improve Undergraduate Instruction," that was 

broadcast on June 8, 2015, for 500 participants. The webinar focused on the newly released federally funded 

practitioner’s guide to implementing evidence-based practices, Reaching Students (LINK). The book has been 

downloaded 13,531 times and the webinar recording has received 96 downloads. 

 The Engagement IWG provided outreach to the national arm of the 4-H organization at a NASA-hosted event on April 14, 

2015. Engagement leaders invited select high school 4-H students from local chapters to present their vision and 

recommendations for improving STEM education in rural communities. Recommendations included: Make STEM more 

fun, introduce STEM concepts earlier in education, interact with STEM over social media platforms, increase inter-agency 

interaction on STEM education issues, and encourage more public/private STEM education interactions. 

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42
Progress Update: FY15 Quarter 3 Highlights 

7 

Additional Activities: 

 The BP IWG completed the following tasks that are relevant to strategic objectives 2 and 3: 

• Summarized Federal investments in BP based on portfolio review and Co-STEM inventory. 

• Worked with ED’s National Library of Education to provide parameters for a systematic review on underrepresented groups in STEM, 

spanning the literature over the past 10 years. Over 450 articles were identified that will inform a Gap Analysis in Fall 2015. 

• Drafted a report on broadening participation in STEM, highlighting challenges and recommendations. 

 To examine all four undergraduate strategic objectives, the Undergraduate STEM Education IWG identified core metrics 

and indicators from a wide-range of datasets available from the National Science Board’s dashboard and the National 

Center for Education Statistics (NCES). 

STEM Education Goal Team and Governance Plan 

8 

Oversight and Project Management of 

Implementation Working Groups 

Goal Leaders: Joan Ferrini-Mundy and Jo Handelsman 

Deputy Goal Leaders: National Science Foundation (NSF) and 

Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) 

Undergraduate 

STEM 

Education 

Co-Leads: 

• NSF 

• DOE 

Underrepresented 

Groups 

Co-Leads: 

• NSF 

• NIH 

Graduate 

Education 

Co-Leads: 

• NSF 

• NIH 

P-12 STEM 

Instruction 

Co-Leads: 

• ED 

• NSF 

Engagement 

Co-Leads: 

• Smithsonian 

• NASA 

Coordination 

Objectives 

Lead: 

• FC-STEM 

Governance 

• Co-STEM: Jo Handelsman (OSTP) and France Córdova (NSF) are Co-Chairs. Annual 

report from FC-STEM to Co-STEM 

• FC-STEM: Joan Ferrini-Mundy (NSF) and Donald James (NASA) are Co-Chairs. 

Quarterly reports from Inter-agency Working Groups to FC-STEM 

Action Plan Summary

9 

Sub-goal Major Strategies to Achieve Impact Key indicators

1. Improve STEM 

instruction 

• Support teacher preparation efforts that encourage use of evidence-based STEM learning 

opportunities 

• Increase and improve authentic STEM experiences for teachers 

•Percentage of high 

school 

mathematics and 

science teachers 

who hold degrees 

in their teaching 

field or in science 

of mathematics 

education 

•Number of STEM 

bachelor’s degrees 

earned annually 

•Percentage of 

bachelor’s degrees 

awarded to 

women, black or 

African American, 

Hispanic, and 

American Indian or 

Alaska Native 

students 

(Plus further 

indicators in 

development – see 

slide 15) 

2. Increase and sustain 

youth and public 

engagement in 

STEM 

• Provide access to scientific and engineering assets of the federal government 

• Integrate STEM into school-readiness and after-school programs 

• Improve empirical understanding of how authentic STEM experiences influence learning or interest 

3. Enhance STEM 

experience of 

undergraduate 

students 

• Implement evidence-based instructional practices and innovations 

• Improve STEM education at 2-year colleges and transfer to 4-year colleges 

• Support the development of university-industry partnerships to provide relevant and authentic 

experiences 

• Address high failure rates in introductory undergraduate mathematics 

4. Better serve groups 

historically underrepresented in 

STEM fields 

• Be more responsive to rapidly changing demographics 

• Focus investments on developing and testing strategies for improving preparation for higher 

education 

• Invest in efforts to create campus climates that are effective in improving success for students from 

under-represented groups 

5. Design graduate 

education for 

tomorrow’s STEM 

workforce 

• Recognize and provide financial support to students of high potential 

• Provide opportunities for fellows’ preparation in areas critical to the Nation 

• Combine and enhance mechanisms that evaluate the impact of fellowships to inform future Federal 

investments 

6. Build new models 

for leveraging assets 

and expertise 

• Collaborate to build implementation roadmaps in the goal areas 

• Reduce administrative barriers to collaboration 

• Develop a framework to guide coordinated CoSTEM agency budget requests 

7. Build and use 

evidence-based 

approaches 

• Support syntheses of existing research on critical issues in STEM priority areas 

• Improve and align evaluation and research strategies across Federal agencies 

• Streamline processes for interagency collaboration 

Work Plan Sub-goal 1: P-12 STEM Education 

10 

Key Milestones (Lead: ED / NSF) Milestone 

Due Date 

Milestone

Status 

Owner Anticipated Barriers or Other Issues Related to 

Milestone Completion 

Identify opportunities to leverage related 

efforts of IWG on Undergraduate Education

12/2014 Complete IWG P-12, 

IWG 

Undergrad

Obstacles included range of purposes motivating 

agency commitment to undergraduate and P-12 

education, including preservice teacher prep and 

authentic research experiences for 

teachers/undergrads.

Create a repository of best practices and 

research related to teacher preparation and 

professional learning 

02/2015* Complete IWG P-12 

Conduct an in-depth analysis of one regional 

“hotspot zone” to identify all relevant federal 

asset activity, programs, and local nongovernmental efforts to improve STEM 

instruction

02/2015** Complete IWG P-12 Initial analysis was limited in scope to three areas: 

Hunstsville, AL; Minneapolis, MN; and, Baltimore 

area, MD.

Conduct focus group sessions with Institutes

of Higher Education (IHE) faculty responsible 

for educating pre-service teachers around 

using evidence-based STEM learning 

opportunities and federal resources. Prepare 

analysis of sessions.

06/2015 Complete IWG-P12 No barriers identified.

Finalize FY16 outcomes, activities and 

milestones

09/2015 On Track IWG-P12 Time constraints for participants are a potential 

obstacle.

Strategic Objectives 

1. Support teacher preparation efforts that encourage use of evidence-based STEM learning opportunities 

2. Increase authentic STEM experiences for teachers 

*Due date revised. The original due date was 09/2014. NSF is working with possible Congressional report language along this line. 

**Due date revised. The original due date was 11/2014. Identifying all federal activities has been more challenging for some agencies 

than originally anticipated. 

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Work Plan Sub-goal 2: Engagement in STEM Education 

11 

Key Milestones (Lead: ED / NSF) Milestone 

Due Date 

Milestone 

Status 

Owner Anticipated Barriers or Other Issues Related to 

Milestone Completion 

Identify STEM Engagement Activities of 

CoSTEM agencies 

12/2014* Missed IWG - 

Engagement 

Group leadership is in transition; Engagement has yet 

to convene and host a formal meeting in FY15

Identify evaluation models used to effectively 

study engagement

01/2015* Missed IWG

Engagement 

Group leadership is in transition; Engagement has yet 

to convene and host a formal meeting in FY15

Implementation of agency commitments 

related to making and student engagement 

announced by President Obama at the White 

House Maker Faire

06/2015* Unable to 

report

Office of 

Science and 

Technology 

Policy 

(OSTP)

No barriers identified with regard to OSTP.

Strategic Objectives

1. Access to scientific and engineering assets of the Federal government 

2. Integration of STEM into school readiness and after-school programs 

3. Empirical understanding of how STEM experiences influence learning 

*Milestones have not been started. 

Work Plan Sub-goal 3: Undergraduate STEM Education 

12 

Key Milestones (Lead: NSF/TBD) Milestone 

Due Date 

Milestone 

Status 

Owner Anticipated Barriers or Other Issues Related to 

Milestone Completion 

Leverage related efforts of IWG on Graduate 

Education:

A) Identify opportunities for collaboration 

B) Develop and launch an undergraduate 

research experiences portal 

C) Develop a communications plan for 

federal research experiences portal with 

Graduate Education IWG 

12/2014 

(A)

Complete IWG 

Undergrad

No barriers identified at this time. 

12/2015 

(B)

On track IWG 

Undergrad

No barriers identified at this time. 

01/2016

(C)

On track IWG 

Undergrad

and IWG 

Graduate

Dependent on B.

OSTP will lead announcement with newly revamped 

science.gov website. 

Identify opportunities to leverage related 

efforts of IWG on P-12 Education 

12/2014 Complete IWG 

Undergrad

Potential obstacles include range of purposes 

motivating agency commitment to undergraduate and 

P-12 education, including preservice teacher 

education.

Develop an online, cross-agency resource of 

federal programs of interest to community 

colleges

12/2014 Complete IWG

Undergrad

No barriers identified at this time. 

Strategic Objectives 

1. Implementation of evidence-based instructional practices and innovations. 

2. Improve STEM education at 2-year colleges and transfer to 4-year colleges. 

3. Support the development of university-industry partnerships to provide relevant and authentic experiences. 

4. Address high failure rates in introductory mathematics at undergraduate level. 

Work Plan Sub-goal 3: Undergraduate STEM Education 

(continued) 

13 

Strategic Objective: 

1. Implementation of evidence-based instructional practices and innovations. 

2. Improve STEM education at 2-year colleges and transfer to 4-year colleges. 

3. Support the development of university-industry partnerships to provide relevant and authentic experiences. 

4. Address high failure rates in introductory mathematics at undergraduate level. 

Key Milestones (Lead: NSF/TBD) Milestone 

Due Date 

Milestone 

Status 

Owner Anticipated Barriers or Other Issues Related to 

Milestone Completion 

Include item on undergraduate mathematics 

instruction in NCES 2009 High School 

Longitudinal Survey (HSLS) second follow up: 

A) Decision to do in-depth cognitive testing 

or field testing on new item for the HSLS 

on undergraduate mathematics 

instruction 

B) Item integrated into HSLS Second Followup (develop)

C) Survey data collected from HSLS 

D) Survey results available 

12/2014 

(A)

Complete IWG 

Undergrad

No barriers identified at this time. 

4/2015 

(B)

Complete IWG 

Undergrad

Dependent on A

12/2016 

(C)

On track IWG 

Undergrad

Dependent on B

12/2017

(D)

On track IWG 

Undergrad

Dependent on C

Outreach efforts to increase implementation 

of evidence-based instructional practices and 

innovations

i) Reaching Students webinar viewings 

ii) Reaching Students book downloads 

8/2015 Complete IWG 

Undergrad 

Work Plan Sub-goal 3: Undergraduate STEM Education 

(continued) 

14 

Strategic Objectives 

1. Implementation of evidence-based instructional practices and innovations. 

2. Improve STEM education at 2-year colleges and transfer to 4-year colleges. 

3. Support the development of university-industry partnerships to provide relevant and authentic experiences. 

4. Address high failure rates in introductory mathematics at undergraduate level. 

Key Milestones (Lead: NSF/TBD) Milestone 

Due Date 

Milestone 

Status 

Owner Anticipated Barriers or Other Issues Related to 

Milestone Completion 

Identify common evaluation elements for 

undergraduate authentic STEM experiences to 

be used across Federal agencies:

Phase 1: Common Indicator Metrics Analysis 

(see Key Indicators)

On track IWG 

Undergrad

Potential obstacles include range of purposes 

motivating agency commitment to undergraduate 

research and intern opportunities.

08/2015 Complete IWG 

Undergrad

No barriers identified at this time. 

Collaborate with IWG on Broadening 

Participation:

A) Identify opportunities to leverage related 

efforts of Broadening Participation. 

B) Develop a Minority Serving Community 

College and federal agency convening to 

share information and resources about 

agency grant opportunities with MSIs: 

i) PPEC 

ii) AANAPISI 

C) Host interagency convening to scale MSI 

outreach to all MSI community colleges 

07/2015

(A)

Complete IWG 

Undergrad

Potential obstacles include range of purposes 

motivating agency commitment to undergraduate

education and broadening participation initiatives. 

10/2015

(B)

Complete IWG 

Undergrad

No barriers identified at this time. 

11/2015

(C)

On track IWG

Undergrad

No barriers identified at this time. 

Development of an Undergraduate Education 

Forum that aligns with the four strategic 

objectives

02/2016 On track IWG 

Undergrad

No barriers identified at this time. 

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44
Work Plan Sub-goal 4: Broadening Participation in STEM 

Fields 

15 

Key Milestones (Lead: NIH/NSF) Milestone 

Due Date

Milestone 

Status 

Owner Anticipated Barriers or Other Issues Related to 

Milestone Completion 

Create a repository for reports, literature, and 

committee products and deliverables for 

subgroups assigned to each major action item

12/2014 Complete IWG Coleads 

OMB Max site created and populated with meeting 

minutes, roster, and related materials. DropBox site 

also created with identical documents. OMB Max will 

be primary site for most. The IWG will make portions 

of this data and information public in the future.

Meet with leads for UG, Graduate, K12, and 

Engagement IWGs to identify opportunities for 

collaboration and leveraging of efforts

3/2015 Complete IWG BP Meetings with UG, Graduate, and K12 working groups 

completed. Engagement IWG meeting was attended 

by representative of BP IWG.

Conduct a review of existing portfolio of BP 

efforts (federal)and non-federal models and 

approaches using the FC STEM inventory, 

presentations, literature reviews, and reports

6/2015 Complete IWG BP After two meetings, it is clear that the committee 

needs to gain a better understanding of federal 

portfolio, as well as reports and literature on practices 

and challenges. A literature review was completed in 

June.

Develop a summary document which includes 

best practices (BP), challenges, and needs in BP 

to support strategies and recommendations 

designed to focus federal BP investments

6/2015 Complete IWG BP Draft Summary Document completed; will review and 

revise as needed

Agencies identify and begin implementation of 

modifications to existing program portfolio to 

address gaps to provide more opportunities for 

URMs in STEM

9/2015 New due 

date will be 

provided in 

Q4

IWG BP There is a need for a gap analysis to complement the 

Co-STEM Inventory before programmatic changes can 

be proposed. The timeline for a gap analysis and 

related tasks will be reported in Q4.

Strategic Objectives

1. Be more responsive to rapidly changing demographics 

2. Focus investments 

3. Invest in efforts to create campus climates that are effective in improving success for students from underrepresented groups 

Work Plan Sub-goal 4: Broadening Participation in STEM 

Fields (continued) 

16 

Key Milestones (Lead: NIH/NSF) Milestone 

Due Date

Milestone 

Status 

Owner Anticipated Barriers or Other Issues Related to 

Milestone Completion 

Agencies identify strategies and timeline for 

incorporating campus climate guidelines and 

best practices into funding opportunities

10/2015 Will be 

revised for 

FY16

IWG BP Activities for FY16 will include new milestones for 

campus climate; will work more closely with other 

IWGs to develop a long-term strategy for campus 

climate that addresses both undergraduate and 

graduate education.

Ideas proposed to maximize the impact of the 

federal investment with a timeline for agency 

adoption

12/2015 Will be 

revised for 

FY16

IWG BP Activities for FY16 will include new milestones to 

address the development of cross-agency initiatives to 

maximize the impact of the federal STEM investment; 

will work more closely with other IWGs to develop a 

long-term strategy that addresses the lack of 

preparation for higher education and adoption of best 

practices recruitment, retention and engagement of 

underrepresented groups in STEM

Strategic Objectives

1. Be more responsive to rapidly changing demographics 

2. Focus investments 

3. Invest in efforts to create campus climates that are effective in improving success for students from underrepresented groups 

Work Plan Sub-goal 5: Graduate STEM Education 

17 

Key Milestones (Lead: NSF/NIH) Milestone 

Due Date 

Milestone 

Status 

Owner Anticipated Barriers or Other Issues Related to Milestone 

Completion 

Establish MOUs across agencies to broaden 

research opportunities of NSF fellows

10/2014 Complete IWG Grad No barriers identified at this time. 

Assemble inventory of evaluation approaches 

for graduate programs

01/2015 Complete IWG Grad No barriers identified at this time. 

Identify available resources for the evaluation 

of graduate programs

01/2015 Complete IWG Grad No barriers identified at this time. 

Identify options such as courses and 

internships to enhance the quality of graduate 

training to better address the needs of a 

future STEM workforce

01/2015 Complete IWG Grad No barriers identified at this time. 

Create common portal for fellowship and 

traineeship opportunities for graduate 

students

03/2015* Complete IWG Grad No barriers identified at this time. 

Hold a workshop with the Performance 

Improvement Council to begin to identify new 

milestones and indicators for 2016

04/2015 Complete IWG Grad No barriers identified at this time. 

Strategic Objectives

1. Recognize and provide financial support to students of high potential 

2. Provide opportunities for fellows’ preparation in areas critical to the nation 

3. Combine and enhance mechanisms that evaluate the impact of fellowships to inform future federal investments 

*Due date revised. The original due date was 02/2015. Additional time was needed for design of the portal. 

Work Plan Sub-goal 5: Graduate STEM Education 

(continued) 

18 

Key Milestones (Lead: NSF/NIH) Milestone 

Due Date 

Milestone 

Status 

Owner Anticipated Barriers or Other Issues Related to Milestone 

Completion 

Initiate discussions with the National Center 

for Science and Engineering Statistics to 

improve the reporting of federal support for 

graduate education through the Survey of 

Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in 

Science and Engineering (GSS). 

06/2015 Complete IWG 

Grad

Actual modifications to the GSS survey will only be made 

after discussions around feasibility have been completed 

by NCSES and the IWG grad members. 

Expand MOU partners to include most 

CoSTEM partners in opportunities for NSF 

fellows

12/2015 On track IWG Grad No barriers identified at this time. 

Expand Portal to include undergraduate 

research opportunities 

12/2015 On track IWG Grad 

and IWG 

Undergrad 

No barriers identified at this time. 

Strategic Objectives

1. Recognize and provide financial support to students of high potential 

2. Provide opportunities for fellows’ preparation in areas critical to the nation 

3. Combine and enhance mechanisms that evaluate the impact of fellowships to inform future federal investments 

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45
*Key Indicators (Undergraduate Education)

19 

**Key Implementation Data 

Indicator Source Baseline Target Frequency Latest 

data 

Trend 

Percentage of high school mathematics and science 

teachers who hold degrees in their teaching field or in 

science of mathematics education

S&EI 

2014 See Table A 

ሄ Biannually but 

based on variable 

survey

2012 N/A

Number of STEM bachelor’s degrees earned annually S&EI 

2014

554,365 

See Tables B & C

ሄ Biannually 2011 N/A

How many undergraduate students enroll in 4-yr 

institutions? 

S&EI

2014 21,260,976 

See Table D 

Stable Biannually 2011 N/A

What is the retention rate in U.S. 4-yr institutions? S&EI

2014

57.8% 

See Table E 

ሄ Biannually 2011 N/A

What percentage of S&E degrees do women and 

racial/ethnic minorities earn? 

S&EI

2014 See 

Tables F, G, H & I

ሄ women in 

computer science 

and engineering; 

ሄ Hispanic Pop. 

Biannually 2011 N/A

How many degrees are earned in STEM and what subfields 

are most popular? 

S&EI

2014 See Table B 

ሄ

computer science 

and engineering

Biannually 2011 N/A

How many views did the Reaching Students webinar 

receive?

NAS, 

NRC, 

BOSE 

96 times 

Anticipated to ሄ in 

Q4 

Quarterly 2015 N/A

How many times has Reaching Students been accessed and 

downloaded? 

NAS, 

NRC, 

BOSE 

14,491 down-loads ሄ

Quarterly 2015

N/A

*The IWGs are working with the PIC to identify additional key indicators for the strategic objectives. 

**Updated data will be available January 2016 in Science and Engineering Indicators, 2016. 20 

APPENDICES

Table A. Mathematics and Science Teachers with an Undergraduate or Graduate Degree in Mathematics or Science, by Grade Level (2012) 

Table B. Number of STEM Bachelor’s Degrees Earned Annually (2011) 

Table C. Bachelor’s Degrees by Broad Field of Degree: 2000-11 (2011) 

Table D. Undergraduate and total enrollment in higher education, by Carnegie institution type: 1996–2011 (2011) 

Table E. Persistence and outcome of postsecondary students beginning 4-year colleges or universities in 2004:2009 (2012) 

Table F. Percentage of Bachelor's Degrees Awarded to Women 

Table G. Women’s Share of S&E Bachelor’s Degrees by Field: 2000-11 

Table H. Percentage of Bachelor's Degrees Awarded by Race and Ethnicity (2011) 

Table I. Share of S&E Bachelor's Degrees among U.S. Citizens and Permanent Residents by Race and Ethnicity: 2000-11 

(Corresponding tables follow on next nine slides) 

21 

Appendix A: 

Undergraduate Education IWG Source Data and Explanatory 

Captions

Table A. Mathematics and Science Teachers with an Undergraduate or 

Graduate Degree in Mathematics or Science, by Grade Level (2012)

22 

(Percent)

Mathematics 

Mathematics 

education 

Mathematics or 

mathematics 

education 

None of 

these 

fields

Science or

engineering 

Science 

education 

Science,

engineering, 

or science 

education 

None of 

these 

fields

Elementary 4 2 4 96 4 2 5 95

Middle 23 26 35 65 26 27 41 59

High 52 54 73 27 61 48 82 18

Mathematics and science teachers with an undergraduate or graduate degree in mathematics or science, 

by grade level: 2012

Mathematics teachers' degree Science teachers' degree

Grade level

SOURCE: Banilower ER, Smith PS, Weiss IR, Malzahn KA, Campbell KM, Weis AM, Report of the 2012 National Survey of Science 

and Mathematics Education (2013).

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46
Table B. Number of STEM Bachelor’s Degrees Earned 

Annually (2011)

23 

Degree and institution type All fields All S&E

Agricultur

al sciences

Biological 

sciences

Computer 

sciences

Earth, 

atmospheric

, and ocean 

sciences Mathematics

Physical 

sciences Psychology

Social 

sciences Engineering

Bachelor’s 1,734,229 554,365 22,759 93,654 43,586 5,299 18,021 19,198 101,568 172,181 78,099

Doctorate-granting universities—very high research activit 444,695 210,425 10,283 37,626 8,193 2,023 6,682 6,852 28,402 69,114 41,250

Doctorate-granting universities—high research activity 249,963 82,410 3,812 13,668 4,909 869 2,176 2,490 13,832 23,135 17,519

Doctoral/research universities 121,588 30,818 874 4,391 4,231 265 835 964 5,389 10,657 3,212

Master’s colleges and universities 647,346 158,483 5,162 24,340 16,319 1,397 5,677 5,614 40,877 47,776 11,321

Baccalaureate colleges 199,039 64,878 2,577 12,804 5,554 728 2,626 3,206 12,620 21,163 3,600

Associate’s colleges 6,079 845 33 21 778 0 0 0 6 1 6

Medical schools and medical centers 6,435 66 0 66 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Schools of engineering 1,329 1,168 0 5 41 14 9 25 0 2 1,072

Other specialized institutions 48,610 3,929 0 623 2,679 0 5 37 320 204 61

Tribal colleges 230 68 18 0 2 0 0 0 3 45 0

Not classified 8,915 1,275 0 110 880 3 11 10 119 84 58

S&E field 

S&E degrees awarded, by degree level, Carnegie institution type, and field: 2011

NOTES: Medical and other health sciences are included in non-S&E. Carnegie institution type corresponds to the 2010 Carnegie Classification of Academic Institutions.

SOURCES: National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, Completions Survey; National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Integrated 

Science and Engineering Resources Data System (WebCASPAR), http://webcaspar.nsf.gov .

Science and Engineering Indicators 2014

Table C. Bachelor’s Degrees by Broad Field of Degree: 2000-

11

24 

Table D. Undergraduate and total enrollment in higher 

education, by Carnegie institution type: 1996–2011

25 

Table E. Persistence and outcome of postsecondary students 

beginning 4-year colleges or universities in 2004:2009 

26 

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47
Table F. Percentage of Bachelor's Degrees Awarded to 

Women 

27 

(Percent)

Year Physical sciences

Biological/agricultural 

sciences Mathematics Computer sciences Psychology Social sciences Engineering

2000 40.8 55.8 47.8 28.0 76.5 54.2 20.5

2001 41.6 57.3 48.0 27.6 77.5 54.8 20.1

2002 42.7 58.6 46.9 27.5 77.5 54.8 20.9

2003 41.7 59.7 45.6 27.0 77.7 54.7 20.3

2004 42.2 60.1 45.9 25.1 77.8 54.5 20.5

2005 42.6 59.9 44.6 22.3 77.8 54.2 20.0

2006 42.2 59.8 44.9 20.7 77.4 53.7 19.5

2007 41.1 58.6 43.9 18.6 77.4 53.8 18.5

2008 41.1 58.2 43.9 17.7 77.1 53.5 18.5

2009 41.0 58.2 43.0 17.9 77.2 53.6 18.1

2010 40.9 57.8 43.1 18.2 77.1 53.7 18.4

2011 40.3 58.1 43.0 17.7 77.0 54.2 18.8

Women’s share of S&E bachelor’s degrees, by field: 2000–11

NOTE: Physical sciences include earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences. 

SOURCES: National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, Completions Survey; Nation al Science Foundation, National Center for 

Science and Engineering Statistics, WebCASPAR database, http://webcaspar.nsf.gov.

Science and Engineering Indicators 2014

Table G. Women’s Share of S&E Bachelor’s Degrees by Field: 

2000-11

28 

Table H. Percentage of Bachelor's Degrees Awarded by Race 

and Ethnicity (2011) 

29 

(Percent)

Year Asian or Pacific Islander Black or African American Hispanic

American Indian or

Alaska Native White

2000 9.3 8.6 7.3 0.7 70.5

2001 9.5 8.7 7.4 0.7 69.6

2002 9.4 8.7 7.5 0.7 69.2

2003 9.4 8.7 7.7 0.7 68.5

2004 9.4 8.8 7.7 0.7 67.7

2005 9.6 8.8 7.9 0.7 67.2

2006 9.7 8.7 8.0 0.7 67.1

2007 9.7 8.6 8.2 0.7 66.8

2008 9.9 8.6 8.5 0.7 66.1

2009 9.9 8.6 8.8 0.7 65.5

2010 9.9 8.6 9.1 0.7 64.4

2011 9.8 8.7 9.6 0.6 63.4

Share of S&E bachelor’s degrees among U.S. citizens and permanent residents, by race and ethnicity: 2000–11

NOTES: Hispanic may be any race. American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian or Pacific Islander, black, or African American and white refer to individuals 

who are not of Hispanic origin. Percentages do not sum to 100 because data do not include individuals who did not report thei r race and ethnicity.

SOURCES: National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, Completions Survey; Nation al Science Foundation, 

National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, WebCASPAR database, http://webcaspar.nsf.gov.

Science and Engineering Indicators 2014

Table I. Share of S&E Bachelor's Degrees among U.S. Citizens 

and Permanent Residents by Race and Ethnicity: 2000-11 

30 

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Activities Possible 

measures/indicators 

Possible milestones Owner Due 

Date 

Build a strong national broadening 

participation community by Identifying 

conferences, foundations, and/or 

organizations in STEM that address the 

education needs of underrepresented 

groups, including military children and 

individuals with disabilities 

A community meeting of 

leaders from 

underrepresented minority 

organizations, societies, and 

foundations, as well as STEM 

industry leaders to exchange 

knowledge, develop 

partnerships, and make federal 

recommendations to improve 

and retain diversity in STEM 

• Identify organizations that are 

appropriate for planning the 

meeting 

• Identify invitees that are 

appropriate for attending the 

meeting 

• BP IWG agrees on goals and 

objectives 

• Share meeting description with 

society, foundation, and 

organization leadership 

TBD: 

Agency #1 

Agency #2 

 

Establish a protocol to receive 

feedback from targeted audiences on 

federally funded broadening 

participation in STEM education 

opportunities 

• BP component of the web 

portal includes a 

mechanism for 

communication with target 

audiences 

• Discuss content to include in web 

portal 

• Identify target audiences 

• Review website 

TBD: 

Agency #1 

Agency #2 

31 

Appendix B: 

FY2016/17 Proposed Milestones for Sub-goal 4: Broadening 

Participation in STEM Fields (Goal 1) Activities Possible 

measures/indicators 

Possible milestones Owner Due 

Date 

Conduct a gap analysis of federal 

broadening participation K-16 

programs in to identify areas for 

program development based on FCSTEM inventory 

• Analysis of federal investments 

in broadening participation 

showing quality and quantity of 

broadening participation 

support 

• Complete nine Interviews of 

STEM faculty/researchers to 

obtain input on factors related 

to federal program design, 

impact, and career trajectories 

• Develop a study proposal to 

the BP IWG detailing 

parameters for a gap analysis 

• BP IWG agrees on design of 

gap analysis 

• Produce a white paper 

identifying gaps and 

highlighting case studies and 

perspectives of successful 

STEM researchers 

• Develop recommendations 

for new or modified 

programs in FY2017 

NSF –Lead 

Agency #2- 

TBD 

Convene a workshop for external 

stakeholders and experts to discuss 

potential solutions to improve the 

STEM preparation of underrepresented 

groups and propose a research 

framework and/or agenda 

• Convene an external 

stakeholder workshop in 2016 

• Participants develop list 

effective strategies for K12 

STEM preparation with an 

emphasis on mathematics 

• New or updated programs for 

FY2017 to address mathematics 

education in K12 

• Discuss workshop goals and 

objectives with BP IWG 

• Share workshop description 

with UG & Grad IWGs 

• Discuss design with STPI and 

add to contract modification 

related to broadening 

participation 

• Identify invitees from STPI 

literature review on 

broadening participation 

NSF – Lead 

Agency #2 

- TBD 

32 

FY2016/17 Proposed Milestones for Sub-goal 4: Broadening 

Participation in STEM Fields (Goal 2) 

Activities/Strategies Possible 

measures/indicators 

Possible milestones Owner Due 

Date 

Work with the Graduate Education IWG 

on a goal related to identifying best 

practices for defining and measuring 

diversity and broadening participation 

in graduate education. 

• Cross agency analysis of programs with BP 

goals 

• Survey completed, issued, with 

appropriate response rate 

• Quality and quantity of information 

collected from college and university 

websites on broadening participation and 

inclusion programs 

• Identify survey goals, parameters for 

college web search, target audience, 

and timeline 

• Draft survey and pilot 

• Establish baseline and targets 

TBD: 

Agency #1 

Agency #2 

Design a convening of campus 

leadership via cross-agency 

coordination to obtain buy-in for 

effective approaches to inclusion to 

create a campus climate where 

students are likely to succeed. 

• Report on synthesis and/or meta-analysis 

of research on effective strategies for 

inclusion to develop draft approaches 

• Plan convening with IWGs 

• Identify goals, objectives, leaders and 

federal representative to invite; 

convening date and location 

identified 

• Convening held in DC 

• Campus leaders propose and agree 

on effective approaches 

TBD: 

Agency #1 

Agency #2 

Working with UG and Grad IWGs, 

develop a cross-agency effort to 

eliminate bias in federally-funded 

higher education institutions as a 

strategy for enhancing inclusion and 

eliminating isolation. Fund 

interventions for evidence-based 

strategies for enhancing inclusion and 

eliminating isolation resulting from 

campus climate. 

• Interagency RFP or program 

announcement released 

• Funded projects demonstrate leadership 

buy-in through active participation in the 

design process and research with 

participants. 

• Identify agency programs that are 

appropriate for collaborative effort 

• Agree on goals and objectives 

• Draft interagency RFP or program 

announcement 

• Interagency agreements drafted and 

signed 

TBD: 

Agency #1 

Agency #2 

• Proposals for federally-funded 

research projects include a list of 

available campus resources and 

programs designed to support 

diversity and eliminate biases. 

TBD: 

Agency #1 

Agency #2 

33 

FY2016/17 Proposed Milestones for Sub-goal 4: Broadening 

Participation in STEM Fields (Goal 3) Acronyms 

34 

• AANAPISI - Asian American Native American Pacific Islander 

Serving Institutions 

• BP – Broadening Participation 

• CAP – Cross Agency Priority 

• CCIC - Community College Innovation Challenge 

• CCLC – Century Community Learning Center 

• CoSTEM – Committee on Science, Technology, Engineering, 

and Mathematics 

• DHS – Department of Homeland Security 

• E.O. – Executive Order 

• EHR – Education and Human Resources 

• EPA – Environmental Protection Agency 

• FBI – Federal Bureau of Investigation 

• FY – Fiscal Year 

• GRIP – Graduate Research Internship Program 

• HSLS – High School Longitudinal Survey 

• IHE – Institutes of Higher Education 

• IWG – Interagency Working Group 

• MET – Measures of Effective Teaching 

• MOU – Memoranda of Understanding 

• MSI – Minority Serving Institution 

• NASA – National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

• NAEP – National Assessment of Educational Progress 

• NCSES – National Center for Science Engineering Statistics 

• NIH – National Institute of Health 

• NOAA – National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

• NSB – National Science Board 

• NSF – National Science Foundation 

• NSSME – National Survey of Science and 

Mathematics Education 

• OMB – Office of Budget and Management 

• OSTP – Office of Science and Technology 

• P-12 – Grades preschool through twelve 

• PIC – Performance Improvement Council 

• PPEC - Pacific Postsecondary Education 

Council 

• S&E – Science and Engineering 

• SBE – Social, Behavioral, and Economic 

Sciences 

• SEI – Science and Engineering Indicators 

• TALIS – Teaching and Learning 

International Survey 

• TIMSS – Trends in International 

Mathematics and Science Study 

• URM – Underrepresented Minorities 

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STEM Education 

Goal Leaders: 

Jo Handelsman, Associate Director for Science, 

White House Office of Science and Technology Policy 

Joan Ferrini-Mundy, Assistant Director, 

National Science Foundation 

 

FY2015 Quarter 4 

Cross Agency Priority Goal 

Quarterly Progress Update

1 

Overview 

2 

Goal Statement 

Improve science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education by implementing The Federal STEM 

Education 5-Year Strategic Plan announced in May 2013, specifically: 

• Improve STEM instruction 

• Increase and sustain youth and public engagement in STEM 

• Enhance STEM experience of undergraduate students 

• Better serve groups historically under-represented in STEM fields 

• Design graduate education for tomorrow’s STEM workforce 

• Build new models for leveraging assets and expertise 

• Build and use evidence-based approaches 

Urgency 

• Advances in STEM have long been central to our nation’s economy, security, and ability to preserve the health of 

its people and the environment; enhancing U.S. students’ engagement and success in STEM disciplines is 

essential to the U.S. maintaining its preeminent position in the world. 

• We have considerable progress to make given that our K-12 system ranks “middle of the pack” in international 

comparisons. 

• Meeting the growing demand for STEM expertise and competency is important to the economy and our 

democracy. 

• Increasing opportunities in STEM for more Americans is critical to building a just and inclusive society. 

Vision 

• The Federal STEM Education 5-Year Strategic Plan sets out ambitious national goals to drive federal investment in 

five priority STEM education areas toward which significant progress will require improved coherence and 

coordination across Federal agencies with STEM assets and expertise and STEM education resources. 

Progress Update: FY15 Quarter 4 Highlights 

3 

 Representatives of the of FC-STEM five Interagency Working Groups (IWGs), the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) , the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the Performance Improvement Council (PIC) 

convened to discuss progress on the STEM Education Cross Agency Priority (CAP) goal on September 30, 2015. The 

group : 

 Discussed key milestones accomplished. 

 Strategies to make the most impact in FY 2016 and FY 2017 based on the review of ideas drawn from IWG 

Workplans, OSTP policy priorities, and the Federal STEM Education 5-Year Strategic Plan. 

 Evaluated the potential impact and level of difficulty of the potential ideas, prioritized projects, and 

collaborated over a rapid project planning activity. 

 In September, 2015 the National Science Foundation (NSF) launched the Second Annual Community College 

Innovation Challenge (CCIC) to address the Federal STEM Education 5-Year Strategic Plan goal “Enhance STEM 

Experience of Undergraduate Students.” The CICC is informed and shaped by discussions of the Undergraduate IWG. 

The submission window for entries to the CICC is October 15, 2015 through February 15, 2016. 

 To encourage sharing of best practices across agencies, the Undergraduate Education IWG has begun regularly sharing 

dissemination tools to reach broader audiences, including tools such as NASA’s Express Newsletter and the 

Department of Education’s (ED) Community College Communities of Practice. For example, NASA Express, through 

social media such as Twitter, has the potential to be shared with approximately 13.17 million people. 

 On August 17-18, 2015 the NSF and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) convened the Tribal Colleges and 

Universities Program (TCUP) Research Symposium. The activity is sponsored by NSF’s Tribal Colleges and Universities 

Program and the 1994 Land Grant Program of the National Institute for Food and Agriculture (USDA). Over 40 

students and faculty from TCUP institutions present their research findings at NSF. 

Progress Update: FY15 Quarter 4 Highlights 

4 

 Activities that will support implementation of the Federal STEM Education 5-Year Strategic Plan Goal, “Enhance STEM 

Experience of Undergraduate Students” initiated this quarter included: 

 The NSF funded a National Research Council study to develop a conceptual framework for an indicator system to 

document the current state of Undergraduate STEM education and track improvements over time. These 

indicators will focus on the first two years of undergraduate education, document the status and quality of 

undergraduate STEM education, and be used to track improvements at the national level. 

 Interpersonal and intrapersonal competencies are associated with college completion. Measuring and assessing 

these competencies will be improved by a National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine project to 

assess and establish priorities for the use of such measurements. 

 To examine trends and set benchmarks for improving access to STEM degrees and decertifications, the Undergraduate 

STEM Education IWG analyzed data on the number of degrees and certificates awarded from 2008-2013, with data 

disaggregated by gender, race, and degree type. 

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STEM Education Goal Team and Governance Plan 

5 

Oversight and Project Management of 

Implementation Working Groups 

Goal Leaders: Joan Ferrini-Mundy and Jo Handelsman 

Deputy Goal Leaders: National Science Foundation (NSF) and 

Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) 

Undergraduate 

STEM 

Education 

Co-Leads: 

• NSF 

• Department of 

Energy 

Underrepresented 

Groups 

Co-Leads: 

• NSF 

• National 

Institutes of 

Health (NIH) 

Graduate 

Education 

Co-Leads: 

• NSF 

• National 

Institutes of 

Health (NIH) 

P-12 STEM 

Instruction 

Co-Leads: 

• Department 

of Education 

• NSF 

Engagement 

Co-Leads: 

• Smithsonian 

• NASA 

Coordination 

Objectives 

Lead: 

• FC-STEM 

Governance 

• Co-STEM: Jo Handelsman (OSTP) and France Córdova (NSF) are Co-Chairs. Annual 

report from FC-STEM to Co-STEM 

• FC-STEM: Joan Ferrini-Mundy (NSF) and Donald James (NASA) are Co-Chairs. 

Quarterly reports from Inter-agency Working Groups to FC-STEM 

Action Plan Summary

6 

Sub-goal Major Strategies to Achieve Impact Key indicators

1. Improve STEM 

instruction 

• Support teacher preparation efforts that encourage use of evidence-based STEM learning 

opportunities 

• Increase and improve authentic STEM experiences for teachers 

•Percentage of high 

school 

mathematics and 

science teachers 

who hold degrees 

in their teaching 

field or in science 

of mathematics 

education 

•Number of STEM 

bachelor’s degrees 

earned annually 

•Percentage of 

bachelor’s degrees 

awarded to 

women, black or 

African American, 

Hispanic, and 

American Indian or 

Alaska Native 

students 

(Plus further 

indicators in 

development – see 

slide 13) 

2. Increase and sustain 

youth and public 

engagement in 

STEM 

• Provide access to scientific and engineering assets of the federal government 

• Integrate STEM into school-readiness and after-school programs 

• Improve empirical understanding of how authentic STEM experiences influence learning or interest 

3. Enhance STEM 

experience of 

undergraduate 

students 

• Implement evidence-based instructional practices and innovations 

• Improve STEM education at 2-year colleges and transfer to 4-year colleges 

• Support the development of university-industry partnerships to provide relevant and authentic 

experiences 

• Address high failure rates in introductory undergraduate mathematics 

4. Better serve groups 

historically underrepresented in 

STEM fields 

• Be more responsive to rapidly changing demographics 

• Focus investments on developing and testing strategies for improving preparation for higher 

education 

• Invest in efforts to create campus climates that are effective in improving success for students from 

under-represented groups 

5. Design graduate 

education for 

tomorrow’s STEM 

workforce 

• Recognize and provide financial support to students of high potential 

• Provide opportunities for fellows’ preparation in areas critical to the Nation 

• Combine and enhance mechanisms that evaluate the impact of fellowships to inform future Federal 

investments 

6. Build new models 

for leveraging assets 

and expertise 

• Collaborate to build implementation roadmaps in the goal areas 

• Reduce administrative barriers to collaboration 

• Develop a framework to guide coordinated CoSTEM agency budget requests 

7. Build and use 

evidence-based 

approaches 

• Support syntheses of existing research on critical issues in STEM priority areas 

• Improve and align evaluation and research strategies across Federal agencies 

• Streamline processes for interagency collaboration 

Work Plan Sub-goal 1: Improve STEM Instruction 

7 

Key Milestones (Lead: Department of 

Education / NSF)

Milestone 

Due Date 

Milestone

Status 

Owner Anticipated Barriers or Other Issues Related to 

Milestone Completion 

Identify opportunities to leverage related 

efforts of IWG on Undergraduate Education

12/2014 Complete IWG P-12, 

IWG 

Undergrad

Create a repository of best practices and 

research related to teacher preparation and 

professional learning 

02/2015* Complete IWG P-12 

Conduct an in-depth analysis of one regional 

“hotspot zone” to identify all relevant Federal 

asset activity, programs, and local nongovernmental efforts to improve STEM 

instruction

02/2015** Complete IWG P-12 Initial analysis was limited in scope to three areas: 

Hunstsville, AL; Minneapolis, MN; and, Baltimore 

area, MD

Conduct focus group sessions with institutions 

of higher education (IHE) faculty responsible 

for educating pre-service teachers about using 

evidence-based STEM learning opportunities 

and federal resources. Prepare summary of 

sessions

06/2015 Complete IWG-P12 

Finalize FY16 outcomes, activities and 

milestones

09/2015 Complete IWG-P12 

Strategic Objectives

• Support teacher preparation efforts that encourage use of evidence-based STEM learning opportunities 

• Increase and improve authentic STEM experiences for teachers 

*Due date revised. The original due date was 09/2014. NSF is working with possible Congressional report language along this line. 

**Due date revised. The original due date was 11/2014. Identifying all Federal activities has been more challenging for some agencies 

than originally anticipated. 

Work Plan Sub-goal 1: Improve STEM Instruction (continued) 

8 

Key Milestones (Lead: Department of 

Education / NSF)

Milestone 

Due Date 

Milestone

Status 

Owner Anticipated Barriers or Other Issues Related 

to Milestone Completion 

Finalize FY16 outcomes, activities and 

milestones

09/2015 Complete IWG-P12 

Compile information about Federal resources 

for P-12 STEM teachers in an online 

repository, one-pager and a powerpoint 

presentation for use at STEM education 

conferences and events and for distribution to 

P-12 STEM educators 

04/2016 On Track IWG P-12 Comment: The P-12 IWG is exploring 

science.gov as the host for the repository. 

Utilizing the Federal resources online 

repository created by the P-12 IWG (see 

milestone above), develop a set of 

recommendations for evaluating professional 

development for STEM teachers

06/2016 On Track IWG P-12 

Reach consensus on a definition of activities 

that are considered “authentic STEM 

experiences” as a reference for cataloging 

IWG activities that are considered to be 

authentic STEM experiences

04/2016 On Track FC-STEM Task Group

Collect information on successful inter-agency 

collaborations that have impacted educators 

and share these examples

06/2016 On Track IWG P-12 

Finalize FY17 outcomes, activities and 

milestones

10/2016 On Track IWG P-12 

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Work Plan Sub-goal 2: Engagement in STEM Education 

9 

Key Milestones (Lead: ED / NSF) Milestone 

Due Date 

Milestone 

Status 

Owner Anticipated Barriers or Other Issues Related to 

Milestone Completion 

Identify STEM engagement activities of 

CoSTEM agencies 

2/1/2016* On Track IWG - 

Engagement 

Identify evaluation models used to effectively 

study engagement

2/1/2016* On Track IWG

Engagement 

Implementation of agency commitments 

related to making and student engagement 

announced by President Obama at the White 

House Maker Faire

06/2015 Complete OSTP and 

Agencies

Strategic Objectives

1. Access to scientific and engineering assets of the Federal government 

2. Integration of STEM into school readiness and after-school programs 

3. Empirical understanding of how STEM experiences influence learning or interest 

*Due dates revised with new IWG leadership 

Work Plan Sub-goal 3: Undergraduate STEM Education 

10 

Key Milestones (Lead: NSF/TBD) Milestone 

Due Date

Milestone 

Status 

Owner Anticipated Barriers or Other Issues Related 

to Milestone Completion 

Leverage related efforts of IWG on Graduate 

Education:

A) Identify opportunities for collaboration 

B) Develop and launch an undergraduate research 

experiences portal 

C) Develop a communications plan for federal 

research experiences portal with Graduate 

Education IWG 

12/2014 (A) Complete IWG 

Undergrad 

12/2015 (B) On track IWG 

Undergrad 

01/2016 (C) On track IWG 

Undergrad 

and IWG 

Graduate

Dependent on B

OSTP will lead announcement with newly 

revamped science.gov website

Identify opportunities to leverage related efforts of 

IWG on P-12 Education 

12/2014 Complete IWG 

Undergrad 

Develop an online, cross-agency resource of Federal 

programs of interest to community colleges

12/2014 Complete IWG

Undergrad 

Identify common evaluation elements for 

undergraduate authentic STEM experiences to be 

used across Federal agencies, beginning with a 

Common Indicator Metrics Analysis 

08/2015 Complete IWG 

Undergrad 

Outreach efforts to increase implementation of 

evidence-based instructional practices and innovations 

i) NAS Reaching Students webinar viewings 

ii) NAS Reaching Students book downloads 

iii) NAS Reaching Students number of countries 

8/2015 Complete IWG 

Undergrad 

Strategic Objectives 

1. Implementation of evidence-based instructional practices and innovations. 

2. Improve STEM education at 2-year colleges and transfer to 4-year colleges. 

3. Support the development of university-industry partnerships to provide relevant and authentic experiences. 

4. Address high failure rates in introductory mathematics at undergraduate level. 

Work Plan Sub-goal 3: Undergraduate STEM Education 

(continued) 

11 

Key Milestones (Lead: NSF/TBD) Milestone 

Due Date

Milestone 

Status 

Owner Anticipated Barriers or Other Issues 

Related to Milestone Completion 

Include item on undergraduate mathematics instruction 

in National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) 2009 

High School Longitudinal Survey (HSLS) second follow up: 

A) Decision to do in-depth cognitive testing or field 

testing on new item for the HSLS on undergraduate 

mathematics instruction 

B) Item integrated into HSLS Second Follow-up (develop)

C) Survey data collected from HSLS 

D) Survey results available 

12/2014 (A) Complete IWG 

Undergrad

4/2015 (B) Complete IWG 

Undergrad

Dependent on A

12/2016 (C) On track IWG 

Undergrad

Dependent on B

12/2017(D) On track IWG 

Undergrad

Dependent on C

Undergraduate Education Forum that aligns with the four 

strategic objectives

06/2016 On track IWG 

Undergrad

Develop an Undergraduate STEM Research Playbook. 12/2016 On track IWG 

Undergrad

Collaborate with IWG on Broadening Participation:

A) Identify opportunities to leverage related efforts of 

Broadening Participation IWG 

B) Develop a Minority Serving Community College and 

Federal agency convening to share information and 

resources about agency grant opportunities with 

Minority Serving Institutions: 

i) PPEC ii) 

Asian American Native American Pacific Islander 

(AANAPISI) 

C) Host interagency convening to scale MSI outreach to 

all MSI community colleges 

07/2015

(A)

Complete IWG 

Undergrad

10/2015

(B)

Complete IWG 

Undergrad

11/2015

(C)

On track IWG

Undergrad

Work Plan Sub-goal 4: Broadening Participation in STEM 

Fields 

12 

Key Milestones (Lead: NIH/NSF) Milestone 

Due Date

Milestone

Status 

Owner Anticipated Barriers or Other Issues Related to 

Milestone Completion 

Activities to support the Broadening 

Participation objective on improving campus 

climate: 

A) Agency IWG representatives identify 

strategies and timeline for Incorporating campus 

climate guidelines and best practices into 

funding opportunities

B) Conduct a gap analysis to assess programs 

that support changes to campus climate and 

culture in post-secondary institutions to identify 

areas for program development based on the FCSTEM inventory

C) Design a convening of campus leadership via 

cross-agency coordination to obtain buy-in for 

effective approaches to inclusion to create a 

campus climate where students are likely to 

succeed.

A) 10/2015 

B) 3/2016

C) 7/2016

On Track

On Track

Not Started 

IWG BP 

IWG BP 

IWG BP

Potential Barriers:

• Obtaining current information from other agencies 

on campus climate programs 

• Narrowing focus of analysis and targeted variables in 

the FC-STEM inventory so that analysis can be 

completed in a reasonable period of time 

• Identifying appropriate participants 

• Scheduling convening to allow for maximum 

participation 

• Obtaining buy-in from federal agencies and campus 

leadership 

Strategic Objectives

• Be more responsive to rapidly changing demographics 

• Focus investments 

• Invest in efforts to create campus climates that are effective in improving success for students from underrepresented groups 

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Work Plan Sub-goal 4: Broadening Participation in STEM 

Fields (continued) 

13 

Key Milestones (Lead: NIH/NSF) Milestone 

Due Date 

Milestone 

Status 

Owner Anticipated Barriers or Other Issues Related to 

Milestone Completion 

Agencies identify and begin implementation of 

modifications to existing program portfolio to 

address gaps to provide more opportunities for 

URMs in STEM

12/2015 On Track IWG BP 

Ideas proposed to maximize the impact of the 

federal investment with a timeline for agency 

adoption

12/2015 On Track IWG BP 

Establish a protocol to receive feedback from 

targeted audiences on Federally funded programs 

with broadening participation in STEM education 

opportunities

9/2016 Not Started IWG BP Creation of protocol will depend on website portal 

and feedback from convening of campus leadership 

Convene a workshop for external stakeholders 

and experts to discuss potential solutions to 

improve the STEM preparation of 

underrepresented groups (in K-12 settings) and 

propose a research framework and/or agenda

6/2016 On track IWG BP 

Work with the Graduate Education IWG on a goal 

related to identifying best practices for defining 

and measuring diversity and broadening 

participation in graduate education 

9/2017 Not Started IWG BP 

Working with UG and Grad IWGs, develop a 

cross-agency effort to eliminate bias in Federallyfunded higher education institutions as a strategy 

for enhancing inclusion and eliminating isolation. 

Fund interventions for evidence-based strategies 

for enhancing inclusion and eliminating isolation 

resulting from campus climate

9/2017 Not Started IWG BP 

Work Plan Sub-goal 5: Graduate STEM Education 

14 

Key Milestones (Lead: NSF/NIH) Milestone 

Due Date 

Milestone 

Status 

Owner Anticipated Barriers or Other Issues Related 

to Milestone Completion 

Establish MOUs across agencies to broaden research 

opportunities of NSF-funded fellows 

10/2014 Complete IWG Grad 

Assemble inventory of evaluation approaches for 

Federally funded programs in graduate education

01/2015 Complete IWG Grad 

Identify available resources for the evaluation of 

graduate programs

01/2015 Complete IWG Grad 

Identify options such as courses and internships to

enhance the quality of graduate training to better 

address the needs of a future STEM workforce

01/2015 Complete IWG Grad 

Create common portal for fellowship and traineeship 

opportunities for graduate students

03/2015* Complete IWG Grad 

Hold a workshop with the PIC to begin to identify new 

milestones and indicators for 2016

04/2015 Complete IWG Grad

Initiate discussions with the National Center for Science 

and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) to explore the 

possibility of modifying the Survey of Graduate Students 

and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering (GSS) to 

provide better quality and more complete information 

about federal support for graduate education.

06/2015 Complete IWG Grad 

Strategic Objectives

• Recognize and provide financial support to students of high potential 

• Provide opportunities for fellows’ preparation in areas critical to the nation 

• Combine and enhance mechanisms that evaluate the impact of fellowships to inform future federal investments 

*Due date revised. The original due date was 02/2015. Additional time was needed for design of the portal. 

Work Plan Sub-goal 5: Graduate STEM Education (continued) 

15 

Key Milestones (Lead: NSF/NIH) Milestone 

Due Date 

Milestone

Status 

Owner Anticipated Barriers or Other Issues 

Related to Milestone Completion 

Based on the discussions with the NCSES: 

• Design a modification to the survey instrument to allow 

universities to report support from any federal agency, 

including small agencies 

06/2016 On Track IWG Grad

• Determine if information about federally-funded teaching 

assistantships should continue to be collected on the survey

06/2016 On Track IWG Grad

Expand MOU partners to include most CoSTEM agencies in 

opportunities for NSF-funded fellows 

12/2015 On track IWG Grad

Expand Portal to include undergraduate research opportunities 12/2015* On track IWG UG and 

IWG Grad

Initiate discussions with the Broadening Participation IWG to 

develop a goal related to identifying best practices for defining 

and measuring diversity and broadening participation in 

graduate education

02/2016 IWG BP and 

IWG Grad

Convene a Graduate Research Internship Program (GRIP) Host 

Agency Summit

As of 11/15, host agencies include: U.S. Census Bureau, 

Department of Homeland Security, the Environmental Protection 

Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the National 

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Office of Naval 

Research, Smithsonian Institution, and the U.S. Geological 

Survey

06/2016 On Track IWG Grad No barriers identified at this time. 

Expand the outreach for GRIP with a goal of increasing the 

number of applications by 25% in 2016

06/2016 On Track IWG Grad

Work with the Undergraduate IWG to explore expanding GRIP to 

undergraduate students supported by NSF’s S-STEM program 

12/2016 On Track IWG UG and 

IWG Grad

*Due date revised. The original due date was 02/2015. Additional time was needed for design of the portal. 

Key Indicators

16 

Key Implementation Data 

Indicator Source Baseline Date/Data Target Frequency Latest data Trend 

Percentage of high school mathematics 

and science teachers who hold degrees in 

their teaching field or in science or 

mathematics education

S&EI 2014 2012/ 73% and 82% [Table A] ሄ

Biannually but 

based on variable 

survey 

2012 N/A 

Number of STEM bachelor’s degrees 

earned annually S&EI 2014 2011/ 554,365 [Table B and C] ሄ Biannually 2011 N/A 

Number of STEM Certificates earned 

annually NCES, IPEDS 2013/ 60,887 [Table J] ሄ Biannually 

Number of STEM Associate’s Degrees 

earned annually NCES, IPEDS 2013/88,795 [Table J] ሄ Biannually 

How many undergraduate students enroll 

in 4-yr institutions? S&EI 2014 2013/ 21,260,976 [Table D] Stable Biannually 2011 N/A 

What is the retention rate in U.S. 4-yr 

institutions? S&EI 2014 2011/ 57.8% [Table E] ሄ Biannually 2011 N/A 

What percentage of STEM certificates 

and degrees do women and racial/ethnic 

minorities earn? 

S&EI 2014 2011[Tables F, G, H, I,K,L,M,N] 

ሄ 

women in computer 

science and 

engineering; 

ሄ 

Hispanic Pop. 

Biannually 2011 N/A 

How many degrees are earned in STEM 

and what subfields are most popular? S&EI 2014 2011/ 554,365; Computer Science 

and Engineering [Table B] 

ሄ

computer science 

and engineering 

Biannually 2011 N/A 

How many views did the Reaching 

Students webinar receive? NAS, NRC, BOSE 114 times Anticipated to ሄ in Q4 Quarterly 2015 N/A 

How many times has Reaching Students 

been accessed and downloaded? NAS, NRC, BOSE 16,512 downloads ሄ Quarterly 2015 ሄ

In how many countries has Reaching 

Students been accessed and 

downloaded?

NAS, NRC, BOSE 149 ሄ Quarterly 2015 

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17 

Appendices

Appendix A: Undergraduate Education IWG Source Data and Explanatory Captions (corresponding tables on following slides) 

Table A. Mathematics and Science Teachers with an Undergraduate or Graduate Degree in Mathematics or Science, by 

Grade Level (2012) 

Table B. Number of STEM Bachelor’s Degrees Earned Annually (2011) 

Table C. Bachelor’s Degrees by Broad Field of Degree: 2000-11 (2011) 

Table D. Undergraduate and total enrollment in higher education, by Carnegie institution type: 1996–2011 (2011) 

Table E. Persistence and outcome of postsecondary students beginning 4-year colleges or universities in 2004:2009 (2012) 

Table F. Percentage of Bachelor's Degrees Awarded to Women 

Table G. Women’s Share of S&E Bachelor’s Degrees by Field: 2000-11 

Table H. Percentage of Bachelor's Degrees Awarded by Race and Ethnicity (2011) 

Table I. Share of S&E Bachelor's Degrees among U.S. Citizens and Permanent Residents by Race and Ethnicity: 2000-11 

Table J. Number of STEM Certificates and Associate’s Degrees, disaggregated by gender (2008-2012) 

Table K. Percentage of STEM certificates awarded by gender (2008-2012) 

Table L. Percentage of STEM certificates awarded by race and ethnicity (2008-2012) 

Table M. Percentage of STEM Associate’s degrees awarded by gender (2008-2012) 

Table N. Percentage of STEM Associate’s degrees awarded by race and ethnicity (2008-2012) 

Appendix B: Acronyms

Table A. Mathematics and Science Teachers with an Undergraduate or 

Graduate Degree in Mathematics or Science, by Grade Level (2012)

18 

(Percent)

Mathematics 

Mathematics 

education 

Mathematics or 

mathematics 

education 

None of 

these 

fields

Science or

engineering 

Science 

education 

Science,

engineering, 

or science 

education 

None of 

these 

fields

Elementary 4 2 4 96 4 2 5 95

Middle 23 26 35 65 26 27 41 59

High 52 54 73 27 61 48 82 18

Mathematics and science teachers with an undergraduate or graduate degree in mathematics or science, 

by grade level: 2012

Mathematics teachers' degree Science teachers' degree

Grade level

SOURCE: Banilower ER, Smith PS, Weiss IR, Malzahn KA, Campbell KM, Weis AM, Report of the 2012 National Survey of Science 

and Mathematics Education (2013).

Table B. Number of STEM Bachelor’s Degrees Earned 

Annually (2011)

19 

Degree and institution type All fields All S&E

Agricultur

al 

sciences

Biological 

sciences

Comput

er 

sciences

Earth, 

atmospher

ic, and 

ocean 

sciences

Mathemati

cs

Physical 

sciences Psychology

Social 

sciences Engineering

Bachelor’s 1,734,229 554,365 22,759 93,654 43,586 5,299 18,021 19,198 101,568 172,181 78,099

Doctorate-granting universities—very high research a 444,695 210,425 10,283 37,626 8,193 2,023 6,682 6,852 28,402 69,114 41,250

Doctorate-granting universities—high research activi 249,963 82,410 3,812 13,668 4,909 869 2,176 2,490 13,832 23,135 17,519

Doctoral/research universities 121,588 30,818 874 4,391 4,231 265 835 964 5,389 10,657 3,212

Master’s colleges and universities 647,346 158,483 5,162 24,340 16,319 1,397 5,677 5,614 40,877 47,776 11,321

Baccalaureate colleges 199,039 64,878 2,577 12,804 5,554 728 2,626 3,206 12,620 21,163 3,600

Associate’s colleges 6,079 845 33 21 778 0 0 0 6 1 6

Medical schools and medical centers 6,435 66 0 66 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Schools of engineering 1,329 1,168 0 5 41 14 9 25 0 2 1,072

Other specialized institutions 48,610 3,929 0 623 2,679 0 5 37 320 204 61

Tribal colleges 230 68 18 0 2 0 0 0 3 45 0

Not classified 8,915 1,275 0 110 880 3 11 10 119 84 58

S&E field 

S&E degrees awarded, by degree level, Carnegie institution type, and field: 2011

NOTES: Medical and other health sciences are included in non-S&E. Carnegie institution ty pe corresponds to the 2010 Carnegie Classification of Academic Institutions.

SOURCES: National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data Sy stem, Completions Survey; National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, 

Integrated Science and Engineering Resources Data Sy stem (WebCASPAR), http://webcaspar.nsf.gov .

Science and Engineering Indicators 2014

Table C. Bachelor’s Degrees by Broad Field of Degree: 2000-

11

20 

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Table D. Undergraduate and total enrollment in higher 

education, by Carnegie institution type: 1996–2011

21 

Table E. Persistence and outcome of postsecondary students 

beginning 4-year colleges or universities in 2004:2009 

22 

Table F. Percentage of Bachelor's Degrees Awarded to 

Women 

23 

(Percent)

Year Physical sciences

Biological/agricultural 

sciences Mathematics Computer sciences Psychology Social sciences Engineering

2000 40.8 55.8 47.8 28.0 76.5 54.2 20.5

2001 41.6 57.3 48.0 27.6 77.5 54.8 20.1

2002 42.7 58.6 46.9 27.5 77.5 54.8 20.9

2003 41.7 59.7 45.6 27.0 77.7 54.7 20.3

2004 42.2 60.1 45.9 25.1 77.8 54.5 20.5

2005 42.6 59.9 44.6 22.3 77.8 54.2 20.0

2006 42.2 59.8 44.9 20.7 77.4 53.7 19.5

2007 41.1 58.6 43.9 18.6 77.4 53.8 18.5

2008 41.1 58.2 43.9 17.7 77.1 53.5 18.5

2009 41.0 58.2 43.0 17.9 77.2 53.6 18.1

2010 40.9 57.8 43.1 18.2 77.1 53.7 18.4

2011 40.3 58.1 43.0 17.7 77.0 54.2 18.8

Women’s share of S&E bachelor’s degrees, by field: 2000–11

NOTE: Physical sciences include earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences. 

SOURCES: National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, Completions Survey; Nation al Science Foundation, National Center for 

Science and Engineering Statistics, WebCASPAR database, http://webcaspar.nsf.gov.

Science and Engineering Indicators 2014

Table G. Women’s Share of S&E Bachelor’s Degrees by Field: 

2000-11

24 

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Table H. Percentage of Bachelor's Degrees Awarded by Race 

and Ethnicity (2011) 

25 

(Percent)

Year Asian or Pacific Islander Black or African American Hispanic

American Indian or

Alaska Native White

2000 9.3 8.6 7.3 0.7 70.5

2001 9.5 8.7 7.4 0.7 69.6

2002 9.4 8.7 7.5 0.7 69.2

2003 9.4 8.7 7.7 0.7 68.5

2004 9.4 8.8 7.7 0.7 67.7

2005 9.6 8.8 7.9 0.7 67.2

2006 9.7 8.7 8.0 0.7 67.1

2007 9.7 8.6 8.2 0.7 66.8

2008 9.9 8.6 8.5 0.7 66.1

2009 9.9 8.6 8.8 0.7 65.5

2010 9.9 8.6 9.1 0.7 64.4

2011 9.8 8.7 9.6 0.6 63.4

Share of S&E bachelor’s degrees among U.S. citizens and permanent residents, by race and ethnicity: 2000–11

NOTES: Hispanic may be any race. American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian or Pacific Islander, black, or African American and white refer to individuals 

who are not of Hispanic origin. Percentages do not sum to 100 because data do not include individuals who did not report thei r race and ethnicity.

SOURCES: National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, Completions Survey; Nation al Science Foundation, 

National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, WebCASPAR database, http://webcaspar.nsf.gov.

Science and Engineering Indicators 2014

Table I. Share of S&E Bachelor's Degrees among U.S. Citizens 

and Permanent Residents by Race and Ethnicity: 2000-11 

26 

27 

Table J. Number of STEM Certificates and Associate’s 

Degrees, disaggregated by gender (2008-2012) 

2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 

Number of STEM Certificates 45,525 55,121 66,649 60,304 60,887 

Males 34,601 43,631 53,910 48,658 48,133 

Females 10,924 11,490 12,739 11,646 12,754 

 

Number of STEM Associate's Degrees 83,046 88,526 86,031 92,464 88,795 

Males 68,402 73,292 67,699 73,348 69,839 

Females 14,644 15,234 18,332 19,116 18,956 

SOURCES: National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System Completions Survey.

28 

Table K. Percentage of STEM certificates awarded by gender 

(2008-2012) 

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Share of STEM Certificates (Percent) 

Male Female

SOURCES: National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education 

Data System Completions Survey.

COORDINATING FEDERAL SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS (STEM) 

EDUCATION: PROGRESS REPORT 

APPENDIX: FY 2015 QUARTERLY UPDATES ON STEM EDUCATION PROGRESS REPORT

56
29 

Table L. Percentage of STEM certificates awarded by race 

and ethnicity (2008-2012) 

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

65

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

URM and Asian or Pacific Islander (Percent) 

White (Percentage) 

White Black

Hispanic Asian/Pacific Islander

American Indian / Alaska Native

SOURCES: National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education 

Data System Completions Survey.

30 

Table M. Percentage of STEM Associate’s Degrees awarded 

by gender (2008-2012) 

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Share of STEM Associate's Degrees(Percent) 

Male Female

SOURCES: National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education 

Data System Completions Survey.

31 

Table N. Percentage of STEM Associate’s Degrees awarded 

by race and ethnicity (2008-2012) 

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

65

70

75

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

URM and Asian or Pacific Islander (Percent) 

White (Percentage) 

White Black

Hispanic Asian/Pacific Islander

American Indian / Alaska Native

SOURCES: National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education 

Data System Completions Survey.

32 

Appendix B: Acronyms

Acronym Description

AANAPISI Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions

CAP Cross Agency Priority

CCIC Community College Innovation Challenge

E.O. Executive Order

ED US Department of Education

FY Fiscal Year

GRIP Graduate Research Internship Program

GSS Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering 

HSLS High School Longitudinal Study

IHE Institutes of Higher Education

IWG Interagency Working Group

MOU Memorandum of Understanding

MSI Minority Serving Institutions

NAS National Academies Press

NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NCES National Center for Education Statistics

NCSES National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics

NIH National Institutes of Health

NSB National Science Board

NSF National Science Foundation

OMB Office of Management and Budget

OSTP Office of Science and Technology Policy

P-12 Grades preschool through twelve

PIC Performance Improvement Council

PPEC Pacific Postsecondary Education Council 

Q(Q1) Quarter (1-4) 

S&EI NSB Science and Engineering Indicators Report

STEM Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

TCUP Tribal Colleges and Universities Program

UG Undergraduate

URM Underrepresented Minorities

USDA US Department of Agriculture

COORDINATING FEDERAL SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS (STEM) 

EDUCATION: PROGRESS REPORT 

APPENDIX: FY 2015 QUARTERLY UPDATES ON STEM EDUCATION PROGRESS REPORT

57