DUE's Mission

To promote excellence in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education for all students.

The Division accomplishes its mission through the following goals and strategies:

Goals	Strategies
Provide Leadership	Promote cutting-edge efforts, risk-taking, and continuous innovation in developing new practices and ideas. Help shape national priorities to further educational innovation and research. Direct efforts to increase the diversity of STEM communities.
Support Curriculum Development	Stimulate and support research on learning. Promote development of exemplary materials and strategies for education. Support model assessment programs and practices. Effect broad dissemination of effective pedagogy and materials. Enable long-term sustainability of effective activities.
Prepare the Workforce	Promote technological, quantitative, and scientific literacy. Support an increase in diversity, size, and quality of the next generation of STEM professionals who enter the workforce with two- or four-year degrees or who continue their studies in graduate and professional schools. Invest in the nation's future K-12 teacher workforce. Fund research to evaluate and improve workforce initiatives.
Foster Connections	Facilitate communication across disciplinary boundaries. Foster connections between all educational levels from K-12 through graduate school and between academia, industry, and professional societies. Encourage faculty to combine teaching and discipline-based research. Collaborate with research communities and with NSF research directorates.

DUE's current programs, which are described in the documents on this Web site, constitute a comprehensive approach to strengthening STEM education at two- and four-year colleges and universities by improving curricula, instruction, laboratories, infrastructure, assessment, diversity of students and faculty, and collaborations. These programs encompass most of the activities supported by the Division; however, additional ideas and mechanisms will be considered by DUE staff at any time.

Division of Undergraduate Education
National Science Foundation
4201 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 835
Arlington, Virginia 22230, USA

Tel: 703.292.8670 ~ Fax: 703.292.9015 ~ E-mail: undergrad@nsf.gov