The criteria for eligibility for this grant program include:

• The Principal Investigators (PIs) and Co-PIs must hold a doctorate in an academic discipline or professional field, or appropriate experience in an education research-related profession. 
• The PI must be affiliated with a non-profit organization that is willing to serve as the administering organization if the grant is awarded.
• All intended proposals must be for academic research projects that aim to study and improve education. 

Requirements/Specifications 

• Proposals for activities other than research will not be accepted (such as program evaluations, professional development, curriculum development, scholarships, capital projects).
• Proposals for research studies centered on areas other than education, are not eligible.
• Graduate students may be part of the research team but cannot be named the PI or Co-PI on the proposal.
• The program welcomes all variations of qualitative and quantitative methods used for answering the presented questions. 
• PIs and Co-PIs may not submit more than one application for a given deadline in this program. Organizations may submit as many proposals as they like as long as they are for different projects and have different research teams.
• Projects proposed may not be longer than 5 years in duration.
• The expenses for the proposed project should be added and the budget narrative field should be completed, providing a description of that specific expense. 
• Proposed budgets for this program are limited to $50,000 total and may not include indirect cost charges per Spencer’s policy. 
• Proposals must be in English and budgets must be proposed in U.S. Dollars.