Higher Education Incentives

Higher Education Announcement of Opportunity

Margaret Koker, Lawrence University
Higher Education Incentives, 2024-2025

• Major Awards: up to $10,000
• Minor Awards: up to $5,000
  (subject to funding availability)

The Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium (WSGC) Higher Education Incentives program supports value-added, undergraduate teaching and training projects in aviation, space, or aerospace disciplines. As a seed-grant program, HEI funds innovative projects that increase the aviation, space, and aerospace content of undergraduate courses and programs.

• Emphasize aviation, space sciences, aerospace engineering, or other space-related or interdisciplinary STEM fields.
• Be designed for undergraduate education/training, with a focus on curriculum development and faculty enhancement.
• Align with at least one NASA Mission Directorate.

• Alignment with NASA Mission Directorates and HEI program goals
• Contribution to new curriculum development and undergraduate/graduate training in space or aerospace disciplines
• Quality and clarity of proposed educational objectives and activities
• Presence of an assessment plan and potential for lasting impact beyond the grant period
• Reasonableness of the budget and required 1:1 institutional match

This funding opportunity is made available for the pursuit of space-related research and/or activities through the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program: NASA Educational Cooperative Agreement #80NSSC25M7122. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) number for this award is 43.008.

All awards are fully competitive awards of opportunity in which applications are reviewed by the WSGC Technical Advisory Panel and other experts as needed. Awards are made by the Assistant Director based on recommendations from the Associate Director.

Current & Past Award Recipients

• Create a NASA STEM Gateway account: nasa.gov/public/s/login/
• Create a WSGC account: carthage.edu/about/login/
• Log in and complete the Higher Education Incentives application

Applicants must:
• Be faculty or staff at a WSGC affiliate institution (industry, nonprofits, and nonmembers may collaborate if work occurs at a member campus).
• Ensure graduate students funded are U.S. citizens or U.S. nationals.
• Have institutional affiliate award agreements on file with WSGC.
• Align proposed work with a NASA Mission Directorates.

Proposal (≤15 pages) addressing:
- Introduction/Summary (≤1 page; curriculum/training goals and NASA alignment)
- Background (include prior HEI awards if applicable)
- Proposed Activities (audience, methods, outcomes, dissemination plan)
- Evaluation Plan
- Timeline and Milestones
- Budget/Use of Funds (using WSGC budget template) with quarterly spend-down plan
- CV/Personnel (2-page PI CV; brief qualifications of collaborators/students)
Budget must demonstrate 1:1 cost-share and follow WSGC guidelines (no overhead, capital purchases, or international travel; laptops require pre-approval).

Recipients must:
• Submit award acceptance materials (Award Agreement, W9, biography, photo).
• Provide quarterly invoices/cost-share documentation.
• Submit interim report (if >6 months), final reports, student/alumni/faculty stories, project photos/video, and awardee publications, presentations, patents, and technology transfers report.
• Complete NASA reporting requirements (STEM Gateway activity acceptance).
• Present research at the Annual Wisconsin Space Conference (Aug. 2026 for Spring/Summer awards; Aug. 2027 for Academic Year awards).

Please direct questions about the HIGHER EDUCATION INCENTIVES Program to: