NASA has selected three consortia in the National Space
Grant College and Fellowship Program (Space Grant) to become
Designated Grant consortia. The three new Designated
Consortia — the Nebraska Space Grant Consortium, the
Oklahoma Space Grant Consortium and the Wisconsin Space Grant
Consortium — have been part of Space Grant for several
years; “Designated” status confers additional budget and
program responsibilities.
Sponsored by NASA’s Education Division in the Office of Human
Resources and Education at NASA Headquarters in Washington,
the consortia were selected based on a competitive evaluation
of the states’ programs and plans to strengthen the nation’s
education and workforce base in science, mathematics,
engineering and technology.
The National Space Grant Program, mandated by Congress in
1987, consists of 52 State Consortia in the 50 states, the
District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
With the additional of Nebraska, Oklahoma and Wisconsin there
are now 28 consortia at the Designated level. All carry out
programs in education, research and public service.
NASA received 14 proposals in response to this Space Grant
program announcement. These proposals were all peer-reviewed
by programmatic experts from academia and government.
“The Space Grant Program has had a very significant impact
throughout the nation, by enhancing the training of
scientists and engineers at the university level, and by
teacher training and in-service activities in precollege
education,” said Frank Owens, Director, NASA Education
Division. “The Space Grant Program serves as a key component
of the agency’s new emphasis on education through one of its
three core missions: To inspire the next generation of
explorers … as only NASA can.”
