A $2M scholarship award for low-income students in AI, robotics, quantum and biotech — with the funding account recorded as the H-1B fund (CU Boulder)
A project at the University of Colorado Boulder providing 24 high-achieving, low-income students pursuing degrees in quantum science, AI, robotics and biotechnology with scholarships covering unmet need up to $15,000 a year for up to five years, alongside faculty and peer mentoring, academic coaching, professional development and internships.
Grant overview (primary data)
- Award amount$2,000,000
- RecipientUniversity of Colorado at Boulder (Colorado)
- ProgramS-STEM-Schlr Sci Tech Eng&Math
- Period2027-01-01 〜 2032-12-31
- FunderU.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) / NSF
Key points
- Twenty-four students pursuing degrees in quantum science, AI, robotics and biotechnology receive scholarships of up to $15,000 a year for up to five years.
- The funding account in the record is H-1B FUND, EDU, NSF; only two of the 120 NSF awards this site holds as of 2026-08-28 carry that account.
- H-1B is a visa classification for specialist foreign workers, and a mechanism exists under which associated petition fees go into a fund for educational purposes.
- The purpose is retention and graduation rather than enrolment; evaluation measures are retention, time-to-degree and outcomes after graduation.
- The period runs 2027-01-01 to 2032-12-31. Of the 120 awards this site holds as of 2026-08-28, 44 (37 percent) have a start date that has not yet arrived.
- Forty-four awards, 37 percent, have a start date that has not yet arrived, placing work under way and work still to begin in one list.
1What the funding account says
What stands out in this record is the funding account, listed as H-1B FUND, EDU, NSF. Of the 120 NSF awards this site holds as of 2026-08-28, only two carry that account; most belong to research and related activities or to STEM education. H-1B is a visa classification for specialist foreign workers, and a mechanism exists under which fees associated with those petitions go into a fund for educational purposes.
That places this scholarship in the position of routing money arising from bringing specialists in from abroad toward educating students at home.
2The purpose is keeping people from leaving
What the record states repeatedly is the aim of supporting retention and graduation among high-achieving students with demonstrated financial need. The evaluation measures line up accordingly: retention, time-to-degree, and outcomes after graduation. The scholarship is designed not merely to help someone enrol but to carry them through to a degree without dropping out.
That mentoring, cohort experiences, coaching and internships come bundled with the money rests on the premise that finances are not the only reason people leave.
3A record for something starting in 2027
The period runs from January 2027 to December 2032, six years. Of the 120 NSF awards this site holds as of 2026-08-28, 44 — 37 percent — have a start date that has not yet arrived. Awards enter the record once granted, so public data places work already under way and work still to begin in the same list. Counting records or amounts without separating the two overstates the scale of what is actually running now.
Why it matters
A public list of awards mixes work under way with work granted but not yet begun. In the records this site holds, 37 percent fall in the second group, and tallying without separating them overstates what is actually running. The funding account column is likewise worth reading as information about where the money came from.
FAQ
What is the H-1B fund in the funding account?
Why do mentoring and internships come with the scholarship?
Do awards that have not started appear in the record?
Sources (primary)
Source: NSF Award Search (U.S. National Science Foundation, public domain). Amounts are the obligated amount. For privacy, we do not handle principal investigator names.
- NSF Award (original, official)
- NSF Award ID: 2620285