November 29, 2022

Draws attention to the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 concerning changes to the S-STEM authorization language.

Dear Colleagues:

This Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) seeks to inform the community that the Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math program (S-STEM) will be releasing a new solicitation with a forthcoming deadline in calendar year 2023 to align with the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 (Public Law. 117-167). Section 10393 of this Act authorizes the Director to make changes in the maximum scholarship amount and length of scholarship support for low-income students in STEM fields. However, no changes are anticipated in a student's eligibility definition.

The current S-STEM solicitation NSF-22-527 supports domestic undergraduate and graduate low-income students with academic ability, talent, or potential to pursue successful careers in promising S-STEM eligible fields. Ultimately, the S-STEM program seeks to increase the number of low-income students who graduate with a S-STEM eligible degree and contribute to the American innovation economy with their STEM knowledge. As specified in the current solicitation, the S-STEM scholarship should go towards covering the institutional Cost of Attendance (COA) which includes expenses a student is expected to incur to attend the institution: not only tuition and fees but room and board, textbooks, supplies, transportation, etc. Scholarship amounts are determined by the unmet need of each individual student, calculated by the institution's Office of Financial Aid with the formula defined in the solicitation.

All questions related to this DCL should be directed to the cognizant program directors listed below.

• Alexandra Medina-Borja, (Program Lead), amedinab@nsf.gov
• Mindy Capaldi, (Program Co-Lead), mcapaldi@nsf.gov
• Mike Ferrara, (Program Co-Lead), mferrara@nsf.gov
• Tom Kim, (Program Co-Lead), tkim@nsf.gov

Sincerely,

James L. Moore III
Assistant Director
Directorate for STEM Education