MUREP Women's Colleges and Universities (MUREP WCU) | NNL23ZHA012C

Opportunity Information: Apply for NNL23ZHA012C

NASA's MUREP Women's Colleges and Universities (MUREP WCU) grant opportunity is a competitive funding initiative designed to strengthen the participation and success of women in STEM, with a particular focus on students who have been historically underrepresented and underserved in these fields. The program recognizes that women in STEM often face persistent gaps in access, support, and career-connected opportunities across both higher education and the workforce. In response, MUREP WCU aims to help close those gaps by supporting activities that inspire and prepare women undergraduate and graduate students to persist through STEM degree pathways and transition into STEM careers.

This opportunity is offered by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) under the Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP), and it aligns with NASA's broader STEM Engagement priorities. The central purpose is to provide participants with meaningful exposure to NASA-related STEM content, learning experiences, and institutional support that can translate into stronger academic outcomes and improved workforce readiness. Programs funded through MUREP WCU are expected to help students build critical thinking and problem-solving skills, improve STEM confidence and self-efficacy, and increase motivation and personal investment to remain in STEM majors and pursue STEM employment or advanced study. The overall emphasis is on developing a stronger, more diverse national STEM talent pipeline, which NASA frames as directly connected to U.S. educational and workforce development goals.

The award mechanism is a cooperative agreement, which generally indicates NASA anticipates being substantially involved during the project period (for example, through collaboration, technical assistance, access to NASA STEM Engagement resources, and coordinated program support rather than a hands-off grant relationship). The funding category is discretionary and the activity category is education, reflecting that the supported work is intended to be programmatic and student-centered rather than primarily research-driven. The associated CFDA number listed is 43.008.

Eligibility is restricted: the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is open only to U.S. Women's Colleges and Universities (WCUs). While the eligibility field is labeled broadly ("Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification)"), the description makes clear that only institutions that qualify as U.S. WCUs may apply, meaning other colleges, nonprofits, companies, and individuals are not eligible under this specific solicitation.

In terms of scale and expected reach, NASA anticipated making about 10 awards, with an award ceiling of $250,000 per award. The opportunity was posted with a creation date of January 19, 2023, and an original closing date of April 17, 2023. The official funding opportunity title is "MUREP Women's Colleges and Universities (MUREP WCU)" and the funding opportunity number is NNL23ZHA012C, which applicants would use to locate the full solicitation package and requirements.

Overall, MUREP WCU is best understood as a targeted capacity-building and student-success program for women's institutions, intended to create stronger pathways into STEM degrees and careers by pairing institutional programming with NASA STEM resources and support. The program is framed around retention and advancement: helping students not only enter STEM fields but also thrive within them, persist to graduation, and be better positioned for graduate education and the STEM workforce.

• The National Aeronautics and Space Administration in the education sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "MUREP Women's Colleges and Universities (MUREP WCU)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 43.008.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jan 19, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Apr 17, 2023. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $250,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 10 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for NNL23ZHA012C

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