FAA Awards $231,000 in Grants to Expand Outreach to Under-Represented Students in STEM

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)awarded $231,000 in grants to support Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) outreach. 

“If kids can dream it, they can do it. It’s up to us to light the path for them,” said FAA Deputy Administrator Bradley Mims.

Three grants are for universities to facilitate STEM outreach to students, especially those who are under-represented in STEM and aviation fields. The schools will design and conduct drone-centered immersion programs, summer camps, after-school programs and community outreach efforts that will educate and inspire youth from elementary, middle, and high schools.

The STEM outreach grants are awarded to the following universities:

• North Carolina State University $125,000
• Kansas State University $100,000
• Sinclair Community College in Ohio $6,000

Today’s grants build on the FAA’s efforts to inspire the next generation of aviators. Specific initiatives include the FAA Adopt-A-School Program, Airport Design Challenge where students in K-12 design airports using the video game Minecraft, the Aviation Career Education (ACE) Academiesand the Youth in Aviation Task Force. Earlier this year, the FAA awarded $5 million in grants to fund aviation classes at higher-education institutions, high schools, state and local governments and flight schools to develop the next generation of pilots.