NASA Awards Grants to Expand STEM Education at Minority Serving Institutions

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Aug 18, 2015, 04:13 ET

WASHINGTON, Aug. 18, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA's Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP) has selected five universities for cooperative agreement awards totaling $6 million to provide educator training and expand course offerings in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

Four universities were selected to receive MUREP Community College Curriculum Improvement (MC3I) grants, which provide up to $250,000 per year for a maximum of three years. The schools will work to increase the number of STEM classes available at minority serving community colleges.

The universities selected for MC3I grants are:

Baltimore City Community College, Baltimore
Napa Valley College, Napa, California
Queensborough Community College, Bayside, New York
Santa Monica College, Santa Monica, California

Texas State University in San Marcos was selected to serve as a MUREP Educator Institute and may receive up to $1 million per year for three years. As an educator institute, the university will create learning opportunities at NASA's ten field centers for future teachers.

Awards were made through the 2014 Education Opportunities in NASA Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (EONS STEM) research announcement. MUREP awards promote STEM literacy and enhance and sustain the capability of institutions to perform NASA-related research and education. The goals of the program are to expand the nation's base for aerospace research and development, increase participation by faculty and students at minority serving institutions, and increase the number of undergraduate and graduate degrees in NASA-related fields awarded to students from minority serving institutions.

For more information on the award process, visit:

http://nspires.nasaprs.com

For more information on NASA's education programs, please visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/education

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SOURCE NASA