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CE21 Grant Opportunity FAQs (NSF Computing Education for the 21st Century)

1) What is the NSF CE21 program?

Computing Education for the 21st Century (CE21) is a National Science Foundation (NSF) discretionary grant opportunity focused on strengthening the computing education ecosystem from early schooling through college. Its long-term goal is to build a larger and more diverse computing workforce and a public that is broadly capable with computational ideas.

2) What problems is CE21 designed to address?

CE21 is motivated by three connected issues: (1) the US is producing too few computing and computing-related graduates to meet fast-growing job demand, (2) many groups remain persistently underrepresented in computing (including women, people with disabilities, African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, and indigenous peoples), and (3) computing has historically had limited and inconsistent presence in K-12 education.

3) Why does CE21 emphasize computing education now?

CE21 frames computing as central to economic growth, scientific progress, and national security. The program argues that maintaining competitiveness and meeting workforce needs requires expanding access to high-quality computing learning opportunities for all students, starting earlier than college.

4) What is CE21 trying to accomplish overall?

CE21 aims to simultaneously: grow the pipeline (more students learning computing earlier and more often), improve quality (rigorous curricula, strong assessments, and well-prepared teachers), and broaden participation (evidence-based strategies that measurably improve access and outcomes for underrepresented groups).

5) What is a major emphasis of CE21 besides expanding access?

A major emphasis is building a stronger evidence base for how people learn computing. CE21 notes that computing education has historically had a less mature teaching-and-learning research foundation compared with other STEM fields, and it supports work that develops and validates rigorous curricula, learning materials, assessments, and teaching methods.

6) Does CE21 focus on teacher preparation and support?

Yes. CE21 specifically highlights the need to prepare and support teachers at scale so that K-12 schools can offer academically rigorous computing, rather than limiting computing to isolated, inconsistent, or extracurricular experiences.

7) Does CE21 treat broadening participation separately from instructional improvement?

No. CE21 stresses that improving participation is not separate from improving instruction. The program expects projects to help explain how diverse learners engage with computing, persist in it, and develop computational competencies that translate to later education and careers.

8) What funding tracks are available under CE21?

CE21 is organized into three tracks: Computing Education Research (CER), CS 10K, and Broadening Participation (BP). Each targets a different part of the overall challenge.

9) What is the Computing Education Research (CER) track?

The CER track supports research that builds foundational knowledge about computing education. It includes basic studies of how students develop computational competencies and how teachers learn to teach computing effectively.

10) What kinds of activities can be included in CER projects?

CER projects can include designing, testing, and refining instructional materials, assessment instruments, and research methods. They may also involve small-scale interventions intended to measure what works, for whom, and under what conditions.

11) What educational levels and settings can CER projects target?

CER has a broad scope across the K-16 pipeline (elementary school through undergraduate education). Projects may address computational thinking in standalone computing courses or integrated across other subjects, and they may occur in formal classrooms or informal settings.

12) What is the CS 10K track?

The CS 10K track supports activities meant to catalyze the larger "CS 10K Project," which aims to bring rigorous academic computing curricula into 10,000 high schools and ensure those courses are taught by 10,000 well-prepared teachers.

13) What activities are supported under the CS 10K track?

Proposals may address course and curricular development, pedagogy and methods courses for teachers, professional development models, and ongoing teacher support systems. They can also focus on scaling strategies, partnership-building among K-12 districts, universities, and community organizations, and practical approaches that increase participation by students from underrepresented groups.

14) What does CE21 mean by "scaling" in CS 10K?

In the CS 10K context, scaling refers to strategies for expanding beyond pilot sites so that rigorous computing courses and well-supported teaching can be adopted broadly across high schools and sustained over time.

15) What is the Broadening Participation (BP) track?

The BP track focuses on developing and evaluating interventions that improve engagement, retention, and learning outcomes for groups historically underrepresented in computing: women, people with disabilities, African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, and indigenous peoples.

16) What outcomes are BP proposals expected to achieve?

BP proposals are expected to generate knowledge about effective teaching and learning strategies for underrepresented learners while also strengthening students' computational thinking skills.

17) What is the role of BPC-A resources in the BP track?

The solicitation encourages proposers to leverage existing BPC-A (Broadening Participation in Computing Alliances) resources and to design interventions that, if effective, could be scaled or adopted within those alliance structures.

18) Does CE21 prioritize interventions that can be adopted in multiple contexts?

Yes. CE21 signals strong interest in approaches that can travel across contexts and produce sustained, measurable improvements, particularly in the BP track and in scaling-oriented CS 10K work.

19) Which federal agency administers CE21?

CE21 is administered by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

20) What type of program is CE21 in terms of grantmaking?

CE21 is described as a discretionary grant program.

21) What NSF areas does CE21 align with?

CE21 activities align to science and technology research and development and span NSF areas such as Computer and Information Science and Engineering and Education and Human Resources.

22) How much total funding is estimated for CE21?

The estimated total funding listed is $13,000,000.

23) What is the minimum and maximum award size?

The award floor is $200,000. The award ceiling is up to $10,000,000.

24) About how many awards are anticipated?

The opportunity anticipates around 20 awards.

25) Is cost sharing required?

No. Cost sharing is not required.

26) Who is eligible to apply?

Eligible applicants include US-based accredited universities and two- and four-year colleges (including community colleges), state and local government entities such as state education offices and school districts, and certain non-profit, non-academic organizations such as museums, observatories, research labs, and professional societies connected to education or research.

27) Does CE21 support work beyond traditional schools and universities?

Yes. The described eligible applicant types and the mention of informal settings indicate CE21 can include work connected to organizations like museums and other non-profit, non-academic entities tied to education or research, as well as learning in informal environments.

28) What is the recurring proposal deadline pattern mentioned?

The solicitation notes annual full proposal deadlines on the first Tuesday in April (with specific dates listed for earlier cycles), indicating recurring competitions during its active period.

29) What does CE21 mean by "K-16"?

In this program description, K-16 means the education pipeline from kindergarten through undergraduate education.

30) How does CE21 describe the expected national impact?

CE21 expects to strengthen national capacity in computing by supporting a deeper research community focused on computing education, preparing a workforce better suited for IT-driven careers, and helping create a wider public able to understand and use computational approaches in civic life and across disciplines.