Last week, NSF announced significant changes to DRL funding programs with the launch of the NSF STEM K–12 program and solicitation. With this new funding opportunity comes the archival of longstanding DRL programs including DRK–12, AISL, CSforAll, as well as others. There have also been changes to ECR:Core, which will now only accept DUE and DGE focused applications. The solicitation encourages applicants who planned to apply to the archived or modified programs to submit proposals to NSF STEM K–12 instead. Full proposals to this solicitation are accepted at any time. Most awards (~40) supported by the program will range between $25,000 and $750,000, with a typical duration of one to three years. The program is expected to be capped at ~30 million dollars.
Join NSF for a general overview webinar about FY26 funding opportunities in DRL on September 4, 2025 at 1-2:30pm ET. Registration is required. Regularly check the NSF STEM K-12 webpage and CADRE social media for information about additional webinars and office hours to be announced. Email STEMK12@nsf.gov with questions.
NSF also announced two other new funding opportunities—Dear Colleague Letters—aligned with the recent executive order to advance K–12 artificial intelligence education.
- The Expanding AI Career and Skilled Technical Workforce Opportunities in Support of High School Students DCL seeks to strengthen the U.S. AI workforce and advance education and innovation pipelines by increasing early access to high-quality, AI learning opportunities for America's high school students.
- The Expanding K–12 Resources for AI Education DCL seeks to build upon NSF's extensive investments in fundamental research, technology transition and education related to the science and application of AI. Existing awardees with K–12 AI or computer science education experience are and invited to submit supplemental funding proposals to refine, scale, and/or implement established K–12 AI-related activities.
As DRK–12 and CADRE come to an end, we plan to celebrate and share the history and accomplishments of the program in our remaining months as the DRK–12 resource center. We invite you to share your reflections on the significance of the DRK-12 program for your research and for the evolution of preK–12 STEM education. Stories of any length are welcome. CADRE plans to post these contributions on cadrek12.org; please let us know if you would prefer your comments to remain anonymous. CADRE reserves the right to curate submissions before posting. Send your contributions to cadre@edc.org or submit them here.