​The National Science Foundation​ (NSF) plans to increase its investment in community colleges to $100 million in fiscal year (FY) 2012.

"We're doing that not through developing a new program, but rather through coordinating across the variety of programs that are already in existence and that have had, to some extent, involvement in community colleges in the past," Barbara Olds, acting deputy director of the Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR), told the Community College Times​. 

Olds said that NSF is particularly interested in supporting research that examines promising practices at community colleges. The agency also hopes to expand its support of innovative programs at two-year colleges that focus on teachers' math and science education; student transitions from high schools to transfer programs and jobs; underrepresented populations and students with disabilities, veterans and older students; and developmental math.

"We're not just interested in Ph.D. scientists. We're interested in a STEM-literate workforce and community," Olds said.

NSF is also exploring partnerships with national philanthropic foundations and the U.S. Department of Education to maximize their efforts with community colleges.

NSF has been talking with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Lumina Foundation and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, which already have community college programs. NSF and U.S. Department of Education officials have also had a series of discussions about community colleges. 

"In tough economic times especially, I think we're all looking to leverage what we can. [We are] trying to work together sort of through synergistic means to get the most bang for our buck," Olds said. 

Although the federal budget for the current fiscal year is still unresolved, Olds said the collaborative conversations are "being driven by the focus on community colleges. Regardless of the budget, these will continue."

The agency has already worked with several of these foundations, and it’s interested in scaling promising practices as well as developing new approaches.

"We don't want to reinvent the wheel,” Olds said. “Part of what of all this is is simply good communication among the partners.".

Waiting on Congress

FY12 began a month ago, but federal spending bills are still pending in Congress. The request for increasing community college funding within NSF awaits congressional action. Also unknown is how the NSF's budget will be affected by the congressional “super committee​” that is deliberating how to cut $1.2 trillion to $1.5 trillion over the next decade.

NSF will not release actual obligations until the release of the FY13 federal budget in February. In FY11, EHR directly invested more than  $83 million in community colleges. 

“Other directorates provided an additional $2.3 million for a total NSF investment in community colleges of approximately $85 million,” Olds said.

For FY 2012, EHR plans to invest $100 million in community colleges, she added.

Whatever the final numbers, community colleges are priorities for NSF and the Obama administration, according to two government officials who spoke at the Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Principal Investigators Conference last week in Washington, D.C.

NSF Deputy Director Cora Marrett called the significant increase in the agency's investment in two-year colleges "a priority" in recognition of "the resources that community colleges represent."

Kumar Garg, senior advisor at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said the president "has been focused on community colleges from the beginning of his administration,” noting that Obama asks about community colleges whenever advisors discuss education and economic strategies.

"We totally agree that community colleges have an important role to play, and that there has been a lot over the past 15 to 20 years [that] folks have been doing," Garg said. "The big question we have is ‘What's the next thing?’ What types of investments should we be making possible...that allow community colleges to have the resources and tools to really meet these tough challenges?" 

Other funding avenues 

Marrett and Garg  praised the work of two-year college educators who have received grants through NSF's ATE program. Congress created ATE in 1992 to support technician education in advanced technology fields, noting its strategic importance to the nation. It is the NSF's largest investment in community colleges.

NSF has requested to level fund ATE at $64 million for FY12, with additional funding for community college activities in other programs.

"While ATE is the model, it's not the only kind of funding we're hoping to do in the future," Olds said.

One example she cited is the Transforming Undergraduate Education in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (TUES), formerly known as the Course Curriculum and Laboratory Improvement Program. If NSF's FY12 budget request is approved, TUES may receive up to $10 million in community college grants, compared to about $750,000 in FY10.

NSF also supports programs such as MentorLinks, an American Association of Community Colleges initiative that provides mentors to community college faculty who want to improve existing or create new technician education programs. The agency also operates the TUESTYC Project (TUES for Two-Year Colleges), which offers workshops and mentoring to help two-year college faculty members prepare grant proposals.

NSF as a resource

Olds encouraged community college educators to run their proposal ideas by program directors and to learn about funding opportunities by signing up for NSF email updates and reading program solicitations.

"Unlike some agencies, NSF welcomes contact from potential proposers," she said. "If someone has what they think is a good idea and they think it's a good fit for a particular program, I would really encourage them to contact a program officer. [They can] send a brief email describing what it is they are considering proposing and then follow up with a phone conversation...The program officers will be candid with people, but they will also be very helpful."

Olds provided a detailed response when asked what NSF wants to fund beyond technician education.

"EHR is a research and development organization. One of the things we think we have too little of is good research on questions around community colleges. When you have a great articulation program, what makes it great?” she said.

NSF wants to foster more partnerships between community college faculty and education researchers, especially to help STEM teachers.

"Many people who go into STEM teaching take some or all their first two years at a community college,” Olds said “What should NSF be funding to help with that process?”

Olds noted math is particularly problematic for STEM majors or people who are considering STEM careers, with many students starting college in developmental math. NSF wants to examine what it can do to help those students transition more smoothly from developmental math to college-level work and direct them into STEM careers.