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A grant from DOD-WHS

NDEP STEM Open NFO Grant

NDEP STEM Open NFO is a broad, amendment-driven Department of War opportunity for STEM education, outreach, workforce, scholarship, partnership, evaluation, and related initiatives. Eligible non-foreign applicants include industry, nonprofits, higher-education institutions, state or local educational agencies, and qualifying consortia. Specific topics, dates, requirements, and potentially a mandatory white-paper stage are supplied through active amendments or Industry Day/Opportunity Day announcements. Applicants should identify the active topic notice before developing a response, because white papers that do not address that notice’s program areas will not be evaluated or invited to submit a full application.

Start here · Eligibility

Check whether your organization qualifies

Answer 5 focused questions in about 60 seconds before investing time in the application.

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1 source-confirmed criterion · No signupReview criteria

Potential award

$100,000–$10,000,000

Time remaining

534 days

Application load

Moderate effort

Best next move

Take the eligibility quiz

Apply

Verified against the source on 8/23/2026

01

Start here

Confirm eligibility

Check your fit in about 60 seconds.

Eligibility requirementsQuestion 1 of 5
About 60 seconds totalInferred criterion

Does your proposed work directly align with Education, Workforce Development, Community Development, Research?

What does this mean?

Education, Workforce Development, Community Development, Research

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Does your proposed work directly align with Education, Workforce Development, Community Development, Research?
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This is an explainable self-assessment, not a win probability or legal determination. Hard eligibility conflicts are never averaged against softer program-fit signals. Always verify the official notice.

Optional Review source criteria and citations

Nonprofit status

Confirm nonprofit eligibility in the full notice.

Review source ↗
unclear

Geography

Nationwide availability is inferred from the catalog record; confirm the official notice.

Review source ↗
inferred

Organization size

No organization-size limit was captured.

Review source ↗
unclear

Program area

Education, Workforce Development, Community Development, Research

Review source ↗
inferred

Population served

No specific population was captured.

Review source ↗
unclear

Matching funds

No cost share is indicated.

Review source ↗
confirmed

Registrations

SAM.gov and Grants.gov registration may be required; confirm in the notice.

Review source ↗
inferred

Exclusions

Review the full notice for exclusions and prohibited uses.

Review source ↗
unclear
02

Grant-writer assessment

Understand the opportunity

Start with the practical interpretation. Open the complete source narrative when you need the underlying detail.

Plain-English explanation

Plain-English explanation

NDEP STEM Open NFO is a broad, amendment-driven Department of War opportunity for STEM education, outreach, workforce, scholarship, partnership, evaluation, and related initiatives. Eligible non-foreign applicants include industry, nonprofits, higher-education institutions, state or local educational agencies, and qualifying consortia. Specific topics, dates, requirements, and potentially a mandatory white-paper stage are supplied through active amendments or Industry Day/Opportunity Day announcements. Applicants should identify the active topic notice before developing a response, because white papers that do not address that notice’s program areas will not be evaluated or invited to submit a full application.

Editorial analysis

What the funder is trying to accomplish

The Department of War Office of the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering seeks innovative applications concerning mechanisms to implement STEM education, outreach, and workforce initiatives and to research their effectiveness. The open NFO is a vehicle for later amendments and announcements that specify funding opportunities in STEM activities.

Editorial analysis

Strong-fit project signals

The proposed work addresses a named activity area, such as STEM education and outreach at two-year institutions/community colleges, manufacturing engineering education, workforce development aligned with DoW Critical Technology Areas, STEM scholarships, strategic partnerships, or program evaluation, assessment, data analytics, and visualization. The applicant is an eligible non-foreign industry organization, nonprofit institution, institution of higher education, state or local educational agency, or permitted consortium. The response directly addresses the program areas and requirements in an active amendment or Industry Day/Opportunity Day announcement. For a concept involving implementation or effectiveness research, the applicant can clearly connect its STEM activity to an approach for assessing effectiveness. Treating this as a competitive advantage is inferred, rather than a stated scoring factor.

Editorial analysis

What reviewers may prioritize

The supplied evidence does not state formal review criteria or scoring factors. It confirms that, where a white paper is required, addressing the program areas in the applicable amendment or announcement is a threshold priority: papers that fail to do so will not be evaluated or invited forward. Alignment, innovation, and attention to implementation and effectiveness are reasonable strategic inferences from the stated program purpose, not confirmed evaluation criteria.

Source dossier Read the full official program description
Source-backed synopsis

What this grant funds

This is an open NFO, applicants may apply to this posting or subsequent amendments for specific STEM activities. See the Related Documents tab for the full NFO, and amendments announcing new funding opportunities.

The Department of War (DoW) Office of the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering (OUSW(R&E)) seeks innovative applications on mechanisms to implement and research the effectiveness of STEM education, outreach, and/or workforce initiative programs, here onto referred as STEM activities.

In response to this NFO, the Department intends to release amendments and solicitations, such as Industry Days, Opportunity Days, etc., detailing funding opportunities through award(s) in STEM activities. These activities include, but are not limited to:

STEM Education and Outreach Support for STEM Education at Two-Year Institutions/Community Colleges (2YI/CCs) Manufacturing Engineering Education Program Education and Workforce Development aligned to the DoW Critical Technology Areas STEM Scholarship Programs Strategic Partnerships Program Evaluations, Assessments, Data Analytics and Visualizations Other NDEP Congressional Initiatives and Programs

As funding becomes available, NFO amendments or Industry Day/Opportunity Day announcements detailing opening and closing dates for topics of interest will be posted. In response, applicants may be asked for a mandatory white paper submission, emailed to osw.ndep.dowstem@mail.mil . Refer to the amendment for formatting the email subject line. Use of the white paper is intended to determine which efforts are of merit preparatory to submission of a full application as described in Section IV. Applicants will be selected from the white paper submissions to be invited by the Government via email to submit a full application on Grants.gov for evaluation and possible award consideration. White papers that fail to address the areas listed in the Program Description of the NFO amendment or Industry Day/Opportunity Day announcement will not be evaluated and will not receive an invitation to submit a full technical application.

White paper submissions will only be accepted in response to active NFO amendments or Industry Day/Opportunity Day announcements. In addition to the submission requirements outlined in Section IV, all responses should address items in the specific NFO amendment or Industry Day/Opportunity Day announcement.

Read the complete official description ↗
03

Decision economics

Size the opportunity

Use the source facts below to judge whether the likely return justifies the application effort.

Award range
$100,000–$10,000,000
Total program funding
Not specified
Expected awards
Not specified
Geography
National
Cost share
Not indicated
Assistance listing
Not specified

Mission alignment

Compare your program with Education, Workforce Development, Community Development.

Geographic fit

National

04

Working plan

Build the application

The generated milestones are planning aids. Only the official notice establishes required dates.

Requirements captured

Other requirements
Eligible applicants include: industry, non-profit institutions, institutions of higher education, state and/or local educational agencies, or consortia of such institutions and/or industry. Foreign entities will not be considered.
Submission system
Grants.gov
Attachments
NDEP STEM NFO Revised 20260323, NDEP STEM NFO Amendment 5 Manufacturing Engineering Education Program, NDEP STEM NFO Amendment 6 JROTC STEM Leadership Academy (Revision 1)
Contact
Jonathan Bertsch Grantor · jonathan.e.bertsch.civ@mail.mil · 7035453559

Official deadline

February 8, 2028

Moderate effort based on requirements currently captured.

  1. Confirm eligibility, registrations, partners, and internal approval.

  2. Finalize project design, outcomes, and supporting evidence.

  3. Draft the narrative and detailed budget.

  4. Complete compliance review and collect attachments.

  5. Submit early and preserve the confirmation receipt.

05Past behaviorCompare historical awardsHistorical patterns provide context, but do not predict or guarantee future funding decisions.
No licensed historical awards are currently linked to this opportunity.
06Audit trailVerify the evidenceSee where the facts came from, when they were checked, and what has materially changed.

Source record

Source verified means the official record was successfully checked. It does not mean every eligibility or application field has been extracted.

Verification
verified
Source
grants gov
Last checked
8/23/2026, 8:51:24 AM
Content updated
8/12/2026, 2:38:50 AM
Review
Automated normalization; not yet expert-reviewed
Open official source ↗

Material changes

  1. Updated categories.

  2. Updated amount max, amount min, application details, categories, cost share required, description, eligibility, eligibility details, important dates, requirements, source citations.

  3. Updated tracking started.

Verify before applying. Official funder documents control. Derived analysis and preparation dates should not replace the notice.
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Quick answersFrequently asked questionsGet concise answers about NDEP STEM Open NFO Grant.
Is NDEP STEM Open NFO Grant currently open?

Yes, based on the latest source record. The deadline is February 8, 2028, with 534 days remaining. Because funders can amend or extend notices, confirm the date and submission instructions on the official application page. The source was last checked 8/23/2026.

How much funding does NDEP STEM Open NFO Grant provide?

NDEP STEM Open NFO Grant lists $100,000–$10,000,000 per award. The expected number of awards has not been captured, so the award range alone should not be treated as an estimate of competitiveness.

Who can apply to NDEP STEM Open NFO Grant?

Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification) Applicants should still complete the eligibility quiz and verify every condition in the official notice; a general fit does not override exclusions or registration requirements.

Does NDEP STEM Open NFO Grant require matching funds?

No cost-share requirement is indicated in the captured source facts. Applicants should still verify the official budget instructions in case an amendment, program track, or specific cost category carries additional conditions.

What should I prepare before applying to NDEP STEM Open NFO Grant?

Moderate effort is expected. The captured requirements include other requirements, submission system, attachments, contact. Start by confirming eligibility and registrations, then work backward from February 8, 2028 using the preparation plan above.

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