Research universities and the federal government partner to foster societal, scientific, and technological advancements, but the federal research grant process is criticized for its procedural inefficiencies. Principal investigators and research administrators lament losing time to bureaucratic regulations, unwieldy processes, and burgeoning…

Each application to the National Science Foundation (NSF) must contain a Broader Impact (BI) strategy. Similarly, grant applications for most research funders in Canada and the UK require strategies to support the translation of research into impacts on society; however, the guidance provided to researchers is too general to inform the specific…

A "grantsperson" is a ubiquitous, elusive and debated identity in higher education that describes a person who is proficient in competing for external funding to support research and programs. Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) receive less revenue for computer science research and programs, which could have…

Applying for financial aid can be a complicated, time-consuming endeavor for students and their families. Fortunately, many state aid programs have taken strides to align aid applications to the form used for federal aid programs, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), making state aid more readily accessible. New conversations…

The federal role in higher education has grown over the past two decades, and now a new administration has the opportunity to strengthen policies that support students and their colleges and universities. To help inform these decisions, the Urban Institute convened a bipartisan group of scholars and policy advisers to write a series of memos…

While Elizabeth Barrett Browning counted 25 ways in which she loves her husband in her poem, "How Do I Love Thee? Let me Count the Ways," we identified only eight ways to evaluate the potential for success of a federal research grant proposal. This may be surprising, as it seems upon initial glance of the review criteria used by various…

The federal role in higher education has grown over the past two decades, and now a new administration has the opportunity to strengthen policies that support students and their colleges and universities. To help inform these decisions, the Urban Institute convened a bipartisan group of scholars and policy advisers to write a series of memos…

In this essay, I reflect on my experiences and lessons learned while serving as Commissioner of the National Center for Special Education Research, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Although I was in the grant writing business for my nearly 30 years as a professor of special education, I learned that I knew very little…

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)--which students must complete to qualify for most federal, state, and institutional financial aid--is a gateway to college through which many students must pass, particularly those from low- to moderate-income households (King, 2004; Kofoed, 2013). Yet given the complexity of the…

Physical educators often find it difficult to secure funding for their programs in these tough economic times. However, there is funding out there, if one knows where to look and how to ask for it. This article describes how physical education teachers can make a funding action plan, who to contact, where to write to, and how to get equipment for…

The persistently low college attainment rates of youth from poor families are partly attributable to their uncertainty about college affordability. The current federal financial aid system does not provide specific information about college costs until just before college enrollment and the information is only available to students completing a…

"We want a grant for 20 computers." This was the author's directive from district administrators nearly 25 years ago. As a district grants specialist, she dutifully wrote the grant for computers so that the schools would be prepared for the 21st century. Back in the late 1980s, the computers themselves were the crux on the federal grant…

School districts play a key role in identifying, supporting, and educating homeless students. This qualitative case study of a school district in Northern California illustrates how district leadership serves as a bridge between federal policy and local school sites. In this case study, federal funding funneled through the state served as the…

Demand is far outpacing resources in one hot segment of the education innovation market, as districts, schools, and nonprofit organizations pitch reform proposals worth $12.8 billion for competitive grants to be awarded under the federal Investing in Innovation Fund, or "i3"--nearly 20 times what the U.S. Department of Education has available. The…

As peer reviewers for the U.S. Department of Education begin to comb through the thousands of pages of applications for $4 billion in federal Race to the Top Fund grants, they'll be under pressure to determine which are most worthy of funding: those that promise the most, or those with the best chance of delivering. In a competition whose criteria…