1、 www.crs.gov | 7-5700 May 19, 2015The Changing Federal STEM Education EffortBackground Policymakers have an active and enduring interest in STEM education. The topic is raised in federal science, education, workforce, national security, and immigration policy debates. Various analysts have attempted
2、 to inventory the federal STEM education effort. These inventories have identified between 105 and 254 STEM education programs and activities at 13 to 15 agencies. Annual federal appropriations for STEM education are typically in the range of about $2.8 billion to $3.4 billion. Most of these funds g
3、o to the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Education. The term “STEM education” refers to teaching and learning in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. It typically includes educational activities across all grade levelsfrom
4、 pre-school to post-doctoratein both formal (e.g., classrooms) and informal (e.g., afterschool programs) settings. Over the past several years, the Obama Administration has sought to change the federal STEM education effort through its annual budget requests. These changes received a mixed response
