The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) awarded $231,000 in grants to support Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) outreach.  

Three grants are for universities to facilitate STEM outreach to students, especially those who are under-represented in STEM and aviation fields. The schools will design and conduct drone-centered immersion programs, summer camps, after-school programs and community outreach efforts that will educate and inspire youth from elementary, middle, and high schools.

“If kids can dream it, they can do it. It’s up to us to light the path for them,” said FAA Deputy Administrator Bradley Mims.

The STEM outreach grants are awarded to North Carolina State University, North Carolina, for $125,000; Kansas State University, Kansas, for $100,000; and Sinclair Community College, Ohio for $6,000.

The grants build on the FAA’s efforts to inspire the next generation of aviators. Specific initiatives include the FAA Adopt-A-School Program, Airport Design Challenge where students in K-12 design airports using the video game Minecraft, the Aviation Career Education (ACE) Academies and the Youth in Aviation Task Force.

Earlier this year, the FAA awarded $5 million in grants to fund aviation classes at higher-education institutions, high schools, state and local governments and flight schools to develop the next generation of pilots.