FY 2015 Budget Request: STEM Education

The President’s FY 2015 Budget proposal for science, engineering, technology and mathematics (STEM) education revises and develops the goals proposed in the Administration’s 2013 Federal STEM Education Five Year Strategic Plan . In FY 2015, the Administration is not proposing the transfer of funding between federal agencies that was seen in the FY 2014 STEM education budget proposal. The FY 2015 proposal restores some of the funding transferred in FY 2014 between federal agencies including NASA, the National Institutes of Health and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. These funding decisions were made for FY 2015 following input from the federal agencies and the community of STEM stakeholders. The FY 2015 Budget request documents for the Department of Education and National Science Foundation provide details of their STEM programs.

The FY 2015 Budget request invests $2.9 billion in STEM education programs, an increase of 3.7 percent over FY 2014.

STEM education budget priorities and initiatives in FY 2015 include:

STEM Master Teacher Corps: $20 million to support the creation of a national STEM Master Teacher Corps which would enhance teacher training and professional development of other STEM teachers and identify best practices in schools, districts and states.

STEM Innovation Network: $110 million for competitive awards to prepare students for postsecondary education and careers in STEM fields.

100Kin10: $40 million to support evidence-based teacher preparation programs and to recruit and train STEM teachers in high-need schools.

Effective Teaching and Learning STEM: $150 million to fund partnerships to improve teaching and learning in STEM subjects and fields.

Undergraduate STEM education: $118 million at the National Science Foundation to improve retention of undergraduate STEM majors and improve teaching and understanding of STEM subjects.

Federal STEM Education Funding
While the National Science Foundation and the Department of Education are the primary agencies that fund federal STEM education programs, other federal agencies also fund STEM education programs to support their missions. These include NASA and the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Energy, Health and Human Services, Interior, Transportation, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

The Department of Education STEM Education Budget
The FY 2015 budget request for the Department of Education prioritizes college and career readiness, teacher training and early childhood education. The Administration proposed new STEM-related programs within the Department of Education in the 2014 budget request, many of these new programs were again proposed in the FY 2015 request. The new STEM education programs include:

STEM Innovation Networks
The FY 2015 request is $110.0 million.

STEM Teacher Pathways
The FY 2015 request is $40.0 million.

STEM Master Teacher Corps
The FY 2015 request is $20.0 million.

Effective Teaching and Learning STEM
This program replaces the former Mathematics and Science Partnerships Program at the Department of Education.
The FY 2014 appropriation for the MSP program was $149.7 million.
The FY 2015 request for the Effective Teaching and Learning STEM program is $149.7 million.

Race to the Top
The FY 2015 request is $300.0 million.

Investing in Innovation (i3)
The FY 2014 appropriation was $141.6 million.
The FY 2015 request is $165.0 million, an increase of $23.4 million or 16.5 percent.

The National Science Foundation STEM Education Budget
The National Science Foundation has STEM education programs in multiple directorates. The primary division of NSF that is responsible for supporting STEM Education is the Directorate for Education Resources.

Directorate for Education Resources (EHR)
The FY 2014 appropriation was $846.5 million.
The FY 2015 request is $889.8 million, an increase of $43.3 million or 5.1 percent.

K-12 STEM Education Programs
The FY 2014 appropriation was $235.3 million.
The FY 2015 request is $196.6 million, a decrease of $38.7 million or 16.4 percent.

Undergraduate STEM Education Programs
The FY 2014 appropriation was $462.9 million.
The FY 2015 request is $492.3 million, an increase of $29.4 million or 6.4 percent.

Undergraduate STEM Education programs within the National Science Foundation include:

Research Experiences for Undergraduates
The FY 2014 appropriation was $75.2 million.
The FY 2015 request is $75.1 million, a decrease of $0.1 million or 0.1 percent.

Advanced Technological Education
The FY 2014 appropriation was 64.0 million.
The FY 2015 request is $64.0 million.

Improving Undergraduate STEM Education
This program consolidated existing STEM programs within the National Science Foundation in the FY 2014 Budget proposal including the Widening Implementation and Demonstration of Evidence-based Reforms (WIDER), Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Talent Expansion Program (STEP), and Transforming Undergraduate Education in STEM (TUES). In FY 2015, the consolidation of these and other programs is the same as the FY 2014.
The FY 2014 appropriation was $89.0 million.
The FY 2015 request is $118.5 million, an increase of $29.5 million or 33.2 percent.

Graduate STEM Education Programs
The FY 2014 appropriation was $444.9 million.
The FY 2015 request is $457.2 million, an increase of $12.3 million or 2.8 percent.

Outreach and Informal STEM Education Programs
The FY 2014 appropriation was $60.8 million.
The FY 2015 request is $60.8 million.