The Educational Partnership Program with Minority Serving Institutions (EPP) is a federal STEM education and future workforce program. This program was developed to educate, train, and graduate candidates for the future workforce in NOAA mission-related enterprises. The awards are creating a readily available pipeline of outstanding talent for the American economy. This investment in postsecondary education is critical to develop a skilled workforce capable of addressing challenges in STEM. The graduates from the award contribute to American global competitiveness.

EPP partners with the academic community to provide research opportunities and hands-on experiences to enhance formal education and student training in STEM and natural resource management fields that are aligned with NOAA’s mission. Graduates are prepared with the skills to compete for government, academia and private sector employment. The program also advances collaborative research and builds capacity in NOAA-mission science, technology, and natural resource management.

The program’s historical and continued success demonstrates the value of collaboration between NOAA and academic partners, including MSIs. In 2019, Congress renamed the program the José E. Serrano Educational Partnership Program with Minority Serving Institutions in Congressman Serrano’s honor for his special interest in the EPP. 

The program has multiple components:

• Four NOAA Cooperative Science Centers advance education and collaborative research, support students, and build capacity in NOAA-mission science, technology, and natural resource management. The Center awards are made through an open national competition to successful eligible, accredited U.S. academic institutions. Each Center is a consortium of academic institutions led by an MSI as defined by the U.S. Department of Education. The partners can be MSIs and non-MSIs that have demonstrated education and research performance in NOAA-mission science, natural resource management, and technology. The CSCs build capacity in NOAA-mission fields at academic institutions, including MSIs by leading new education and research programs. Each Center, though aligned with a primary NOAA line office, may conduct research and train students in multiple NOAA mission fields. Students at Centers engage in collaborative research, including through required NOAA graduate internships known as NOAA Experiential Research and Training Opportunities (NERTOs). There are four current NOAA Center institutional awards, which were awarded in 2021 and 2022.
• The Undergraduate Scholarship Program (USP) awards funding for two years to successful applicants who are students enrolled full-time at a minority serving institution in NOAA-mission fields. The award includes scholarship stipends and two paid summer internships at NOAA facilities. Scholars receive professional development and funding for conference attendance.
• The Graduate Fellowship Program is a competitive fellowship program open to graduate students at Cooperative Science Centers. Successful applicants are awarded financial support and a one-year appointment to conduct research and professional development training at a NOAA facility under the collaborative guidance of a NOAA subject matter expert mentor and their academic advisor. 

Program history

In 1997, the  NOAA Administrator Dr. D. James Baker and Commerce Deputy Secretary Robert Mallett hosted a meeting with historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) presidents and leaders. NOAA established a Memorandum of Understanding between the agency and a consortium of 10 HBCUs that established the foundation and framework for NOAA’s EPP program. The first awards, made through an open national competition, were funded in 2001.

Throughout the history of the program, there have been five components. Two of the five, the Graduate Sciences Program and the Environmental Entrepreneurship Program, have been sunsetted.