Up to $10 million in PAsmart grants are available from the Pennsylvania Department of Education to help prepare students for the fast-growing fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and computer science (CS).

Governor Wolf launched PAsmart in 2018 and the administration has distributed nearly $60 million statewide to support STEM and computer science education in hundreds of schools and expand job training through registered apprenticeships and industry partnerships. 

Targeted and Advancing PAsmart grants support high-quality STEM and computer science learning and professional development opportunities to communities across PA, including within early learning centers, libraries, out-of-school time providers, career and technical centers, post-secondary institutions, and K-12 schools.

Targeted Grants

Up to $35,000 each, these grants are structured to meet the needs of local educational agencies (LEAs) and their schools that currently have limited to no CS/STEM offerings. There are two funding options:

• Option 1: LEAs may request funding to send teams of educators and administrators to PDE-designed professional development (see Appendix A), which is aligned to the CSTA standards and the K-12 Computer Science Framework.
• Option 2: LEAs may request funding to support alternative professional learning by an expert STEM/CS institution. The alternative professional learning must incorporate evidence-based approaches and be aligned to the CSTA standards and the K-12 Computer Science Framework.

Advancing Grants

Up to $500,000 each, these grants are designed to support broad, cross-sector partnerships that are using ecosystem or networked approaches to:

• Expand access to CS/STEM education and promote inclusion (especially for historically underserved students and communities) through learning experiences such as integrative CS/STEM experiences, standalone CS/STEM courses, out-of-school learning, dual enrollment, industry credentials, work-based learning, internships, and apprenticeships;
• Expand and diversify the number of CS/STEM educators at all education levels.