Extramural Coordinated Funding

UM Submission Instructions: Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education – Special Projects (FIPSE - SP) 2025

Sponsor:	Department of Education
Award Title:	Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education – Special Projects (FIPSE - SP)
Amount:	$4M Maximum Award: DoE will not make an award exceeding the following amounts for each of these priorities for the entire project period of 48 months: Absolute Priorities 1 and 2: $4,000,000; Absolute Priority 3: $4,000,000; Absolute Priorities 4 and 5: $1,000,000; Absolute Priorities 6 and 7: $4,000,000. Estimated Average Size of Awards (for the 48-month project period): Absolute Priorities 1 and 2: $2,000,000; Absolute Priority 3: $2,000,000; Absolute Priorities 4 and 5: $800,000; Absolute Priorities 6 and 7: $2,000,000.
UM Deadline:	11/11/2025
Sponsor Deadline:	12/03/2025
Description:	The Department of Education's Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) Special Projects Program provides grants to institutions of higher education (IHEs), combinations of such institutions, and other public and private nonprofit institutions and agencies to support innovative projects concerning one or more areas of national need: Advancing the understanding of and use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology in postsecondary education, Promoting civil discourse on college and university campuses, Promoting accreditation reform, and Supporting capacity-building for high-quality short-term programs. To support these four crucial needs, the competition includes seven absolute priorities and two competitive preference priorities under which applicants may apply. These absolute priorities are: Advancing AI to improve educational outcomes of postsecondary students Ensuring future educators and students have foundational exposure to AI and computer science Promoting civil discourse on college and university campuses (see NOFO for details on Competitve Preference Priorities 1 and 2) Supporting institutions in changing accrediting agencies Supporting the creation of new accrediting agencies Creation of new high-quality short-term programs Expansion of existing high-quality short-term programs Priorities correspond to the four areas of need as detailed in the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), which is linked above. Applicants are strongly advised to review the guidelines and application requirements before submitting an internal application. The University of Minnesota is eligible to submit only one (1) grant application under an area of national need as the lead applicant; and each campus (Duluth, Crookston, Twin Cities, Rochester, Morris) is considered a unique eligible entity. An entity can be included as a partner in multiple applications.
Number of Applicants University is Allowed to submit:	4
Additional Requirements:	None
Sponsor Guidelines:	https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/11/12/2025-19843/applications-for-new-awards-fund-for-the-improvement-of-postsecondary-education-special-projects
UM Nominations Process:	UPDATE (11/24/2025): Research teams have been selected to submit under Areas of National Need 1: Advancing the understanding of and use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology in postsecondary education, & Need 4: Supporting capacity-building for high-quality short-term programs, from the UMN Twin Cities campus. Also, a team has been selected from UMN Morris to submit under Area of National Need 1. Anyone from interested in submitting a proposal under an unclaimed Area of National Need, please contact collabor@umn.edu with the lead PI's name and proposal title as soon as possible. This is a first-come, first-served opportunity. Please contact collabor@umn.edu as soon as possible if you wish to submit a proposal for this opportunity. In your email, please indicate under which area of national need (1, 2, 3, or 4) your proposal falls. Application Booklet Additional Resources
Peer Review Coordination:	Research and Innovation Office contact email
Status:	Applicants accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. Contact us if interested.
Please note:	To be considered for peer review and internal selection, faculty must follow the above submission guidelines and meet the UM deadline as set by the office coordinating the peer review for this opportunity.

General Information

Each posting has information about the external sponsor and opportunity as well as the internal application instructions.
Opportunities can be sorted by column headings; just click on the heading to re-sort by that column.
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If you know of an opportunity that is not on the list, please contact Kristin Mead.

Internal Requirements

Sponsor: Name of funder.
Award Title: Funding opportunity nameAmount: Range/Maximum dollar amount awarded.
UMN Deadline: Submission deadline for internal proposal as determined by the coordinating office.
Sponsor Deadline: External deadline identified by the sponsor.
Description: General information about the sponsor and the funding opportunity. Usually describes the purpose of the funding opportunity, overview of what the sponsor is looking for, including distinctive criteria. This is not meant to take the place of the sponsor guidelines; please read the sponsor guidelines before deciding to apply.
Number of Applicants University is Allowed to Submit: The maximum number of applications the sponsor will allow the university to submit.
Additional Requirements: Identifies any special requirements such as cost sharing, partners, etc.
Sponsor Guidelines: Link to the sponsor’s funding opportunity website.
UMN Nominations Process: Contains specific internal submission requirements including internal proposal instructions, deadline, eligibility, internal nomination process, contact information.
Peer Review Coordination: The name and contact email of the office coordinating the funding opportunity. RIO coordinates most limited submissions, but opportunities coordinated by other offices or programs are also posted on this webpage.
Status:
- Open: UM deadline has not passed and the opportunity is open for application.
- Forecasted: The funder has not yet formally published the opportunity. The deadline has yet to be determined.
- Archived: The opportunity has been archived by the funder.
- Spots Remaining: UMN deadline has passed, with some applicant spots still available. Contact collabor@umn.edu if interested
- First-Come, First-Served: Applicants accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. Contact collabor@umn.edu if interested
- Contact Us: The internal deadline has passed, but no applicants were selected. Please contact the office coordinating the peer review for more information.
- In Review: Peer review process is in progress for the opportunity.
- PI Selected: The PI(s) have been selected as the official UMN nominees.
- Closed: UMN is no longer accepting applications.

UMN Selection Process

Once the internal deadline has passed, if the number of applicants is less than or equal to the number of spots the university is allowed to send forward, the applicants automatically become the UMN nominee(s).
If the status of an opportunity is "First-Come, First-Served", there was not time to hold an internal review. Applicants will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.
If there are no applicants, the status will change to "Contact Us". At this point, the opportunity changes to a first-come, first-served opportunity.
If there are multiple applicants, the office coordinating the nomination will determine the review criteria and coordinate the review process. The status will change to "In Review".
Once the review has been completed all parties will be notified via email.
Nominees will be provided with an email from RIO (or the designated coordinating office) indicating that they are the university's nominee. This letter should accompany the nominee's proposal.
SPA is notified of the university's nominee(s) and the status is updated to "PI(s) Selected".

*If you have questions about the University's process related to extramural funding opportunities requiring nomination or if you have any technical issues with the site, contact collabor8@umn.edu.