# Science and Engineering Education

**R-2A activity** of project 615094 — University Research Initiatives  
**Program element:** 0601103F — University Research Initiatives  
**Component:** U.S. Air Force · **Budget Activity:** 1  
**Vintage:** President's Budget PB2027  
**Canonical URL:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0601103F/615094/a1  
**Parent:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0601103F

## Summary

This activity requests $24.9M in FY2027, 27% of project 615094, up 73% on FY2026. The R-2A exhibit describes it across FY2026–FY2027, including what the FY2027 money is planned to buy.

## What the FY2027 request buys

**FY2027 planned work.** - Continue to award highly competitive National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) fellowships. - Continue to support competitive awards for graduate and undergraduate research experiences, including those established under the Awards to Stimulate and Support Undergraduate Research Experiences program. - Continue funding for awards initiated under prior year DoD programs.

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** FY 2027 increased compared to FY 2026 by $10.502 million due to additional investments in NDSEG. This is the second year in the NDSEG Fellowship Program contract restructure to fund current year academic costs only instead of funding each class for multiple years upfront. FY 2027 funds will pay for the 2026 class's second year and the 2027 class's first year. Previously the contract funded the full fellowship of each class across multiple years. NDSEG class size will be reduced from 126 fellows in FY 2025 to 102 fellows in FY 2026 and FY 2027 across the participating Services (Air Force, Army, and Navy).

## Before the request year

**FY2026 plans — current year.** - Award highly competitive National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) fellowships. - Support competitive awards for graduate and undergraduate research experiences, including those established under the Awards to Stimulate and Support Undergraduate Research Experiences program. - Fund awards initiated under prior year DoD programs.

## Funding

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 45.1 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 14.4 |
| FY2027 | Request | 24.9 |

> Prior, current and budget year only — an R-2A activity carries no five-year plan. It sums exactly into its project in the request year and not necessarily in any other.

## Other activities in project 615094

- [Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0601103F/615094/a0) — FY2027 51.6
- [Research Instrumentation](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0601103F/615094/a2) — FY2027 14.9

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Department of the Air Force RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibit R-2A, PE 0601103F project 615094 (PB PB2027). Narrative is the government's own text.
- **No marks, no contractors at this grain** — congressional marks land on the program element and R-3 performers on the project.
- **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_activity`.

*HitchAI is an independent intelligence service, not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Defense. Budget figures are requests/estimates, not obligations.*