[SatNews] Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) and the Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF) have announced three new activities to help policymakers and educators tackle the challenges associated with improving science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education in the U.S.

Central to this effort are the release of an innovative package of hands-on tools and the launch of a new state-level STEM modeling effort, which will see Raytheon and BHEF partner to enable regionally-specific models. In addition to the state-level STEM modeling program, Raytheon and BHEF unveiled a web-based tool that allows policymakers and others to easily access the model and run their own simulations or view a set of pre-existing scenarios. Both are designed to help policymakers, educators and researchers understand the complex nature of the U.S. education system and identify potential solutions that could increase the number of students who are interested and prepared in STEM fields, and ultimately, increase the number of students who obtain college degrees in these fields. Today's news follows the July 2009 launch of the Raytheon-built BHEF U.S. STEM Educational Model, the first-ever simulation and modeling tool for the U.S. STEM education system.