Historically Black Colleges and Universities - Undergraduate Program | 23 563

Opportunity Information: Apply for 23 563

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Historically Black Colleges and Universities - Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP) is a discretionary grant opportunity designed to strengthen undergraduate STEM education and research capacity at accredited HBCUs that offer undergraduate degree programs in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics. The overall aim is to improve the quality of STEM instruction and learning environments, expand research engagement, and increase the number of students earning STEM bachelor degrees while better preparing them for graduate study and the STEM workforce. The program is also explicitly focused on broadening participation and success in STEM, with particular emphasis on improving outcomes for underrepresented groups, especially African Americans, within undergraduate STEM pathways.

HBCU-UP offers multiple funding tracks so institutions can pursue goals that match their needs and readiness. Targeted Infusion Projects (TIP) support short-term, well-defined efforts to enhance and innovate undergraduate STEM education at an HBCU. These projects are typically focused and bounded in scope, aiming to address a specific challenge or implement a particular improvement that can be achieved within a shorter timeframe. Research on Broadening Participation in STEM (BPR) supports research projects that develop and study theory-driven models, strategies, or innovations intended to improve participation and success of underrepresented groups in undergraduate STEM education. In practice, this track is oriented toward generating publishable knowledge and evidence about what works, why it works, and under what conditions it can be scaled or transferred.

For faculty who need an entry point into externally supported research, Research Initiation Awards (RIA) provide support for STEM or STEM education faculty at HBCUs who have no prior or no recent research funding. The intent is to help faculty launch or restart a research agenda, with flexibility to conduct the work at their home institution or through research experiences at another research-intensive university, an NSF-funded research center, or a national laboratory. At the institutional level, Implementation Projects (IMP) fund comprehensive efforts that are designed, implemented, studied, and assessed to increase the number of students earning undergraduate STEM degrees and to strengthen their preparation. These projects are broader and more integrated than TIP awards, often involving coordinated improvements across curricula, student support structures, research experiences, and institutional systems that affect STEM persistence and completion.

The program also includes a center-based option through Broadening Participation Research Centers (BPRC). This track supports the creation of centers that conduct research on STEM education and broadening participation and that build intellectual infrastructure to enable the creation, integration, and transfer of new knowledge. In other words, BPRCs are meant to serve as sustained hubs that produce research, develop partnerships, and help move evidence-based approaches into practice across broader communities. In addition to these primary tracks, NSF notes other funding mechanisms that may be used within the program’s scope, including EArly-Concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER), Rapid Response Research (RAPID), and conference and planning grants, which are typically intended for exploratory ideas, urgent/emergent research needs, and community-building or proposal development activities.

Eligibility to submit proposals is limited to accredited Historically Black Colleges and Universities that offer undergraduate STEM degree programs. NSF also encourages proposals from HBCUs that are actively developing undergraduate STEM education programs, signaling that institutions at different stages of STEM program development may be competitive if the proposed work is well-justified and aligned with program goals. Prospective applicants are encouraged to contact an HBCU-UP Program Officer to discuss fit and suitability before submitting, which can help clarify the most appropriate track and expectations for competitiveness.

The Principal Investigator (PI) requirements vary by track and are tied closely to who will actually lead and be accountable for the work. For a TIP, the PI must be the individual directing implementation of the project activities. For a BPR project, the PI must manage the project and must be one of the primary researchers, reinforcing that this track is research-driven and expects substantive intellectual leadership from the PI. For an RIA, the PI must be a faculty member in a STEM or STEM education discipline at the HBCU, and the rules are more restrictive in that Co-PIs and senior personnel are not permitted, keeping responsibility and credit centered on the initiating faculty member. For IMPs and BPRCs, the PI and any Co-PIs must be the people guiding implementation of the project or center. There is also an important limitation for the BPRC track: if someone is a PI or Co-PI on an active BPRC, they may not serve as PI or Co-PI on a new proposal under that track if the existing center would still be active when the new award would start, which is intended to prevent overlapping center leadership commitments.

Key administrative details from the opportunity listing include the Funding Opportunity Title (Historically Black Colleges and Universities - Undergraduate Program), Funding Opportunity Number 23-563, and the sponsoring agency (National Science Foundation). The instrument type is a grant, and the activity category is science and technology and other research and development, with CFDA number 47.076. The listing shows an award ceiling of $9,000,000 and an original closing date of 2024-10-01, indicating the upper bound and timing provided in the posted source information.

• The National Science Foundation in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Historically Black Colleges and Universities - Undergraduate Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 47.076.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-03-21.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-10-01. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $9,000,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

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