Sloan Higher Education Program

Exemplary Pathways to STEM Graduate Education

Supports broad access to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics graduate education through collaborative initiatives for students and institutions.

⚠ This may reflect a past cycle — verify the current call on the funder's site.

Exemplary Pathways to STEM Graduate Education is an open call for Letters of Inquiry (LOIs) from U.S. higher education institutions and their partner organizations, administered by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's Higher Education program. The call seeks collaborative institutional efforts to advance access and opportunity in STEM graduate education. Grants through this call reach up to $500,000 per award. The LOI deadline is June 1, 2026. The call is one of the signature initiatives within the Foundation's broader goal of widening STEM graduate pathways, transforming graduate education toward student-centered and inclusive models, and building a more diverse STEM professoriate.

Eligible applicants are U.S. higher education institutions and organizations working in formal partnership with them. For-profit institutions and individual researchers are not eligible. The LOI should follow the Foundation's standard two-page format and include the project's nature and purpose, a description of the planned work, the total project cost and the amount requested from Sloan, an estimated project duration, and the names and affiliations of key team members. Invited applicants will be asked to submit a formal proposal; the Foundation typically responds to LOIs within eight weeks. Major grants above $250,000 are approved by the Foundation's board on a quarterly schedule, which may extend the timeline from LOI to award for the largest requests.

Applicants most likely to be invited to full proposal are those whose work addresses systemic barriers to STEM graduate access, demonstrates collaboration across multiple institutions or stakeholder groups, and aligns with one or more of the Higher Education program's focus areas — particularly the University Centers of Exemplary Mentoring model, the Sloan Indigenous Graduate Partnership, or the Sloan Centers for Systemic Change. Organizations should submit their LOI to the Higher Education program team at the Sloan Foundation by the June 1, 2026 deadline and may also reach out to Program Director Lorelle L. Espinosa with questions about fit before submitting.