The Department of Education is issuing a notice inviting applications for new awards for fiscal year (FY) 2018 for the Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) Program, CFDA number 84.200A.

https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2018-07-30/html/2018-16330.htm 

Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: August 29, 2018.

The GAANN Program provides grants to academic departments and programs of institutions of higher education (IHEs) to support graduate fellowships for students with excellent academic records who demonstrate financial need and plan to pursue the highest degree available in their course of study at the institution.

Four broad areas have been identified as national needs:

        1. Computer and Information Sciences: Cybersecurity, secure 

computer programming, and artificial intelligence.

    2. Rebuilding the Nation's Infrastructure: 

 To meet this goal, the Nation needs to expand 

the prepared workforce to ensure timely planning, delivery, and 

inspection of infrastructure projects. Therefore, there is a national 

need to increase the number of professional engineers able to 

facilitate a wide range of infrastructure projects.

3. National Civic Literacy: Studies of American adults' knowledge 

of American history and institutions have demonstrated low levels of 

knowledge and that greater civic knowledge, more than a college degree, is 

the leading factor in encouraging active civic engagement.

 

4. Workforce Development: The Nation needs innovative solutions 

that enable individuals to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to 

meet workforce demands through shorter-term programs that align with 

the needs of employers. Professional Science Master's (PSM) degrees 

provide such a solution within graduate education. To better meet the 

Nation's needs in computer and information sciences and in engineering, 

PSM programs are included as terminal degree programs chosen for these 

areas in this competition.