Education Grants

Take a look at these grant opportunities and funding sources

There are dozens of organizations who support education, primarily STEM and STEAM education, and we've collected some of them below.  See what grants (both Federal and private) and funding you can apply towards your assembly shows and other educational experiences this year.

Federal Grants

21st Century Community Learning Centers

This program provides money for before- and after-school programs. Funds may be used for expanding learning activities or any area of enrichment and include technology, such as robotic kits, engineering kits, science kits, STEM Education kits, and telecommunication education.
 

Charter Schools

The program provides funding for purchasing science kits for kids, equipment, supplies, or any educational materials.
 

Early Childhood Professional Development

This program seeks to improve the knowledge and skills of early childhood educators who work in high-poverty areas. Funding can be used towards providing science activities for kids.
 

Education Technology State Grant

This program has been slashed by almost 50 percent but still has a sum directed toward the effective integration of technology to ensure that students are technologically literate by the end of eighth grade.
 

GEAR Up

This discretionary grant program is designed to increase the number of low-income students who are prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education. 
 

Gifted and Talented Students

The purpose is to serve students (particularly the economically disadvantaged, disabled, or with limited English proficiency) who have been underrepresented in gifted and talented programs.
 

Innovative Education State Grants

This is a formula grant under Title V that stimulates educational innovation by encouraging broad-based reform efforts. This program has been decreased by almost 50 percent for 2006. The funds may be used for technology, professional development software, or curricular materials.
 

Magnet Schools

These are competitive funds to enhance the curriculum and attract racially diverse student populations.
 

Mathematics and Science Partnerships

This program encourages the formation of partnerships to improve performance in math and science. Funds may be used for professional development, summer workshops, science for kids, and distance learning programs.
 

National Science Foundation

NSF promotes and advances scientific programs in the United States and advances grants for science, math, and engineering research in education.
 

Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Act

Funds may be used for vocational and technological education activities plus professional development opportunities for teachers and counselors.
 

Safe and Drug-Free Schools

This program consists of two major programs: State Grants for Drugs and Violence Prevention Programs and National Programs. State Grants is a formula grant program that provides funds to states and local school districts for a broad range of prevention and education programs. Any activity must be based on scientifically conducted research.
 

Small Rural School Achievement Program

These grants are very popular as they lend themselves to the extension of the No Child Left Behind objectives.
 

Title I

The largest of the elementary- and secondary-education programs, this program requires states to develop standards in reading and math and assessments linked to those standards for students. The program is also structured to assist high-poverty schools in giving their students an equal opportunity to meet state standards.
 

Private Grants

3M Foundation

Promotes strong curricular development and creative problem-solving skills.
 

Abell Foundation

Sets an agenda that allocates grants for schools, hospitals, and human service organizations and reaches out to the disadvantaged in the Baltimore community and the region.
 

Abington Foundation

Provides gifts for educational programs, particularly for the development of these programs that stress math readiness.
 

Abney Foundation

This foundation supports the advancement of curriculum development.
 

Advanced Micro Devices Inc.

AMD's K-12 initiatives target programs that increase student interest and/or proficiency in literacy, math, science, and computer technology.
 

Aetna Foundation

Supports strong curricular systems.
 

Alcoa Foundation

Funds projects that support global education, workplace skills, and safe and healthy children.
 

Ameren Foundation

They give their funds primarily in Missouri and Illinois. Their site lists specific efforts in which they choose to invest.
 

American Honda Foundation

The focus of these grants is on math, science, and technology.
 

Bayer Foundation

Stresses the advancement of science education and a strong, reliable workforce.
 

Bechtel Foundation

This fund espouses the belief that a nation's strength is in the fields of science and engineering.
 

Braitmayer Foundation

Supports curricular reform and professional development.
 

Brinker International Foundation

This is a multifaceted company with a strong emphasis on educating on all levels, preschool through Grade 12.
 

Broad Foundation

This foundation supports a variety of educational opportunities that urban schools can create.
 

Cargill

Promotes the improvement of academic skills and improves the opportunities for the disadvantaged.
 

Carnegie Foundation

Stimulates scientific literacy and the importance of coherent communication.
 

Charles A. Frueauff Foundation

Funds social service organizations, education, and disadvantaged youth.
 

Charles Lafitte Foundation

This foundation subscribes to innovation and creativity. There is a strong investment in experiential elements for students.
 

Charles Stewart Mott Foundation

The goals are to improve the welfare of low-income students and to sustain the ecosystem.
 

Citigroup Foundation

The thrust of this foundation is to educate the next generation with a strong emphasis on the slow learner and students in the disadvantaged category, as well as a strong emphasis on ecology.
 

Coca-Cola Foundation

Coca-Cola strives to work with local communities to build strong educational opportunities to enhance national productivity. Most robotics and simple machine products, with their strong emphasis on math and science, would more than fill potential educational voids.
 

Daniels Fund

Supports early childhood readiness, school choice, teacher quality, and development of ethics and integrity. (Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming)
 

Dekko Foundation

This foundation favors requests from the states of Alabama, Indiana, and Iowa. Dekko, too, favors the early-learning and after-school programs. It is geared for preschool through age 18. The mission of any proposal must be strong and futuristic. The educational lexicon would seem to promote robotics and early-learning products as solutions to that end.
 

Deluxe Family Foundation

Supports education K-12, particularly science and reading.
 

Dollar General Foundation

Grants promote the advancement of literacy and basic education.
 

Dominion

The funding cycle is year-round, and support is directed toward innovative educational curricula.
 

Dreyer's Foundation

Funds programs that show sequential, consistent core training for students.
  

Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation

Sees entrepreneurship and education as the most effective ways to empower people to create their own futures. (Missouri)
 

Ford Foundation

Their goal is to foster education through technology and curriculum.
 

Frederick and Nancy DeMatteis Family Charitable Trust

The mission of the foundation is to make life better by serving human needs through the support of institutions involved in education. (New York)
 

Frey Foundation

Seeks special teaching methods to create productive learning environments.
 

Gannet Foundation

Funds programs that are not normally covered by a regular budget – only special initiatives.
 

Gates Foundation

Supports raising graduation rates and graduates who will be strong citizens ready for college or the workplace.
 

Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation

This foundation is primarily concerned with innovative instruction models and also has a strong attraction for meeting the needs of underserved students. The deadline for grant applications is November 1.
 

Hall Family Foundation

Supports education and the arts. (Kansas City, Missouri)
 

Halliburton Foundation

Endorses education K-college, supporting education in all major areas.
 

Hewlett Foundation

The Education Program makes grants to improve education by expanding the reach of openly available educational resources, improving California education policies, and by supporting "deeper learning" – a combination of the fundamental knowledge and practical basic skills all students will need to succeed.
 

Humana Foundation

The aim is to develop tools to improve literacy and increase the use of technology.
  

Inasmuch Foundation

Funds education, health, the arts, and the environment. (Oklahoma)
 

Innovative State Grants

This is a formula grant under Title V which stimulates educational innovation by encouraging broad-based reform efforts. The funds may be used for technology, professional development software, or curricular materials.
 

Intel

This ongoing grants program can be accessed by schools in Arizona, California, Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah, and Washington.
 

Joyce Foundation

Aims to provide students in the Great Lakes region with education, allowing them to live fruitful, productive lives.
 

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

This group’s emphasis is on strong progress in middle school technology.
 

KDK-Harman Foundation

By supporting nonprofits and school districts in seven Central Texas counties, the foundation aims to increase 21st-century skills and give low-income students access to quality careers. The foundation focuses on three initiatives to help achieve this goal: 1) STEM and integrating technology into teaching and learning; 2) improving the quality of and access to out-of-school time programs; 3) enabling and supporting systems-level change and collaboration to support excellent education for all Central Texas students.
 

Lilly Endowment

The endowment views education at all levels is indispensable to personal, civic, and economic success.
 

Lockheed Martin's Philanthropic Giving

Lockheed Martin makes grants to non-profits and public elementary and secondary schools for K-12 STEM education.
 

Lowe’s

This grant source has a variety of offerings that could be used for LEGO® initiatives as well as additions to Modules or Suites labs.
 

Lumina Foundation

This expands knowledge and improves practices that affect students’ access and success in postsecondary education.
 

Micron

Micron strives to fund high-impact programs that drive advancements in education, with an emphasis on science, math, and engineering.
  

Motorola Foundation

Motorola supports programs to encourage science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education in the U.S. and around the world.
 

Pentair Foundation

The Pentair Foundation funds a range of education programs from those that target disadvantaged youth to STEM initiatives for K-12.
 

 

Tellabs Foundation

Supports local and national education initiatives, with a focus on engineering, science, mathematics, and technology.
 

Toshiba America Foundation

Toshiba America Foundation (TAF) grants to fund the projects ideas and materials teachers need to innovate in their math and science classrooms.
 

Toyota TAPESTRY Grant

Administered by the National Science Teachers Associations, Toyota TAPESTRY is the largest K-12 science grant program of its kind in the United States.
 

Washington State STEM Education Foundation

Washington State STEM Education Foundation is a national model for generating passionate support for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math in Public Education: Every Student, Every Day.
 

W.K. Kellogg Foundation

To ensure that all children get the development and education they need as a foundation for independence and success, we seek opportunities to invest in early child development (ages zero to eight), leading to reading proficiency by third grade, high school graduation, and pathways to meaningful employment.
 

W.M. Keck Foundation

The Science and Engineering Research Program seeks to benefit humanity by supporting projects that are distinctive and novel in their approach.