[SatNews] NASA has awarded grants to nine academic institutions and their partners that serve large numbers of minority and underrepresented students to strengthen offerings in science, technology, engineering, and math, or STEM.

The grants total approximately $1.15 million through the agency's Curriculum Improvement Partnership Award for the Integration of Research (CIPAIR) project. Seven institutions and their partners will receive one-year funding, ranging from approximately $145,000 to $150,000 per year for up to three years, based on performance and availability of funds. Two organizations will receive planning grants. The grants must be used to increase the quantity and quality of STEM curricula. The institutions and partners selected are:

• Fayetteville State University in North Carolina, and Southeastern Community College in Whiteville, N.C. (Planning Grant)
• LaGuardia Community College in Long Island, N.Y., and Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, N.Y. (Planning Grant)
• Atlanta Metropolitan College
• New York City College of Technology in Brooklyn, N.Y., and Hostos Community College in the Bronx, N.Y.
• San Mateo/Canada Community College in San Francisco and San Francisco State University
• Santa Monica Community College in California and the University of California, Los Angeles
• Spelman College in Atlanta and Gadsen Community College in Gadsen, Ala.
• United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck, N.D.
• Virginia State University in Petersburg, Va., and Louisburg Community College in Louisburg, N.C.

Selections were based on proposal reviews by scientists and educators from private industry, academia, the National Science Foundation and NASA. The formal award, financial arrangements and grant administration will be made through the NASA Shared Services Center. CIPAIR is managed for NASA by the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. These awards provide funding that continues NASA's commitment to achieving a broad-based, competitive aerospace research and technology development capability among the nation's minority serving institutions. NASA continues to invest in projects that will build, sustain and provide a skilled, knowledgeable and diverse workforce to meet the emerging needs of the agency and the nation.