The National Science Foundation’s (NSF) efforts to comply with the Trump administration’s policies are having an disproportionate impact on STEM education research. The agency has canceled over 1,400 grants since April, with more than half of them funding programs that support student training in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
STEM education research focuses on improving how students learn science, technology, engineering, and math from preschool to university. Researchers say the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion have been a focus in the field since before the terms were popularized.
The terminations come as part of a broader attack on education and D.E.I. by the Trump administration. Experts see it as a gut punch that confirms the cuts are not about science writ large, but rather about association with values at odds with the administration’s priorities.
The agency has previously adopted D.E.I. language more explicitly during the Biden administration, and researchers funded outside of the STEM education directorate face less extreme cuts. However, they too are concerned about financial support and educational preparation for students in STEM, many of whom would lead the next generation of scientific discoveries.
The move follows previous actions by the foundation to comply with an executive order issued by President Trump in January, which called for the elimination of D.E.I. across the federal government. The defunding comes amid broader shifts in education, including mass layoffs and hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts to various components of the Department of Education.
Without evidence-based research, experts warn that anyone can make up a story about how schools are doing and what they need. Researchers emphasize that STEM education needs to grow hand in hand with scientific discoveries, and that stopping funding for education research would have severe consequences.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/22/science/trump-nsf-stem-education.html