NASA Awards $3.3 Million to Tribal Colleges and Universities

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Oct 01, 2010, 03:31 ET

WASHINGTON, Oct. 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA will award $3.3 million over three years to support academic excellence in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education at tribal colleges and universities.

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The awards are part of a Cooperative Agreement Notice released by the NASA Office of Education's Minority University Research and Education Program for the Tribal Colleges and Universities Project (TCUP).

Three institutions were selected through a merit-based, peer-reviewed competition for funding. Awards will go to Kiksapa Consulting, LLC of Mandan, N.D.; Salish Kootenai College of Pablo, Mo.; and the American Indian Higher Education Consortium in Alexandria, Va. The awards have a three-year period of performance and range in value from $215,000 to $592,000.

NASA's TCUP is a STEM education grant and mentoring program specifically targeting tribal colleges and universities. The goal of the project is to expand opportunities to academic institutions that prepare Native Americans to enter the nation's STEM workforce through internships, fellowships, research experiences, outreach, information exchange, capacity building and infrastructure development.

The first round of awards is valued at $1.107 million. Each award is expected to use NASA's unique contributions in STEM education to enhance tribal college academic experiences and improve educators' abilities to engage their students.

For more information about the awards, visit:

http://nspires.nasaprs.com

For information about the NASA education programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/education

For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov

SOURCE NASA