EERE News

DOE Announces $7.75 Million Investment in HBCUs to Support STEM Workforce

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Clean Energy Education Prize, a competition that will help HBCU institutions develop programming to strengthen the participation of K-12 and community college students in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. The $7.75 million prize competition will support the creation of clean energy “ecosystems,” or community networks, to inspire the next generation of students to work in STEM fields related to clean energy.

This prize supports President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, which directs 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal investments to flow to disadvantaged communities by helping to build a diverse STEM pipeline to support America’s clean energy future.

“The clean energy transition is an opportunity to offer new, inspiring careers to communities that have been historically underrepresented in STEM fields,” said Terrence Mosley, Senior Advisor for Diversity and STEM in DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. “Enlisting HBCUs, and the ideas, perspectives, and expertise of their networks, can help the U.S. grow a strong, representative STEM workforce and improve the research quality and innovation needed to accelerate the field of clean energy.”

There are over 100 HBCUs in the United States which account for 3% of all post-secondary institutions, yet HBCU’s graduate 17% of all Black students. Importantly, 40% of the Black students pursuing graduate degrees in STEM fields attended HBCUs for their undergraduate studies. With this prize DOE hopes to better equip these institutions with the resources and infrastructure they need to train a critical portion of the clean energy workforce.

The HBCU Clean Energy Education Prize aims to expand clean energy learning opportunities for younger generations, build robust programming that provides opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, and establish partnerships that lead to career opportunities in clean energy. The prize is open to all 100+ HBCU institutions across the United States and schools are eligible to compete in one or both prize tracks:

• The Inspire Track supports the development and expansion of HBCU-hosted clean energy summer or academic break programs for K-12 and community college students. Submissions open for this track in May 2023 and close in August 2023.
• The Partnership Track supports building partnerships between HBCUs and other universities to provide opportunities that will equip HBCU students with the skills needed to succeed in the clean energy industry. Submissions open for the Partnership Track in September 2023. 

Visit Herox.com/HBCU for more information on how to compete in this prize. If you have any questions, please register for the HBCU Clean Energy Education Prize Informational Webinar.