The application process for 2013 is closed.
2013 RESEARCH & DISSERTATION GRANTS
With support from the National Science Foundation (
NSF), the National Center for Education Statistics (
NCES), and the National Postsecondary Education Cooperative (
NPEC), the Association for Institutional Research (
AIR) operates two grant programs that support research on a wide range of issues of critical importance to U.S. higher education. The program has two separate purposes:
- NSF and NCES support grants aim to increase the number of researchers using national datasets and demonstrate the contribution that these datasets make to the national base of knowledge on higher education policy, theory, and practice.
- The NPEC funding supports grants that increase the understanding and knowledge of a specific issue area identified by NPEC.
To qualify for funding, proposal submissions must meet one or more of the following criteria:
- Use data from one or more of the national datasets of NCES and NSF— Research topics may cover a wide range of policy- or practice-related issues. For a list of previously funded topics visit the Funded Grants page. Applicants must include the analysis of data from at least one NSF or NCES dataset in the project. See NSF/NCES Datasets (PDF) for more information. Additional large-scale, nationally representative datasets may be used in conjunction with the obligatory NSF or NCES dataset.
- Address the 2013 NPEC Focus Topic: "The Impact of Data on the College Search and Selection Process." Grant proposals should focus on how students and their families use data in the college search and selection process. NPEC is interested in finding out what data are important to students in their college search and selection process; whether such data are easily accessible to them; and how such data could be presented to maximize their impact. In particular, NPEC is interested in the impact of data that are reported or disclosed by postsecondary institutions—4-year institutions, 2-year institutions, and less-than-2-year institutions—on students’ college search and selection process. For more information, view the complete Focus Topic details (PDF).
Two levels of grants are supported:
- Research Grants: Faculty and practitioners are eligible for research grants of up to $40,000 for one year of independent research. (Note: These research grants are not available to students). All grant recipients must be affiliated with a U.S. postsecondary institution or relevant non-profit higher education organization.
For more detailed information, view the Research Grants Guidelines (PDF).
- Dissertation Grants: Doctoral students are eligible for dissertation grants of up to $20,000 for one year to support dissertation research and writing under the guidance of a faculty dissertation advisor.
For more detailed information, view the Dissertation Grants Guidelines (PDF).
Proposals may only be submitted electronically. The deadline for proposal submission is January 10, 2013 (11:59 p.m. EST). Applicants will be notified of funding decisions in April, 2013. Funding will be available starting May 1, 2013. Assistance is available from the AIR grant staff at grants@airweb.org or 850-385-4155 x200.