NASA’s Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP) has selected four minority serving institutions for cooperative agreement awards totaling approximately $2 million to help strengthen science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) curricula at the schools.
Four universities were selected to receive MUREP Other Opportunities grants, which provide up to a total of $500,000 to each school, who have three years to create and implement their program. The solicitation challenged schools to propose innovative ways to create and implement STEM activities, with a goal of increasing the number of historically underserved students studying STEM fields relevant to NASA’s diverse exploration mission.
“NASA’s MUREP program provides support for colleges and universities to build programs that connect students from underrepresented and underserved communities with NASA, giving them the strong foundation they need to pursue and excel in STEM fields,” said Donald James, associate administrator for NASA’s Office of Education.
The selected institutions are:
- University of Hawaii, Honolulu
- Howard University, Washington
- The University of Texas at El Paso
- Elizabeth City State University, North Carolina
Through MUREP’s competitive awards, NASA provides financial assistance to minority serving institutions, including historically black colleges and universities, Hispanic serving institutions, Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander serving institutions, tribal colleges and universities, and other minority serving institutions and eligible community colleges. These institutions recruit and retain underrepresented and underserved students, including women, girls and persons with disabilities, into STEM fields.
For more information on the award process, visit: http://nspires.nasaprs.com. For more information on NASA’s education programs, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/education.
