Training K-12 teachers to introduce inquiry into their classrooms is a component of many HHMI grants to colleges. Credit: UCSF City Science

HHMI awards four-year grants to colleges (baccalaureate and master's institutions) to support science education at the undergraduate, K-12, and community college levels.

Only invited institutions are eligible to apply for these grants. Invitations are based on an institution's classification by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching as a baccalaureate- or master's-granting institution and on the institution's record of postbaccalaureate student achievement in the sciences. HHMI also considers each institution's record of preparing students from groups underrepresented in the sciences to pursue scientific careers.

To evaluate qualifying institutions, HHMI conducts assessments covering the most recent 10-year period for which data are available. Institutions are assessed on the basis of the percent and absolute number of graduates from each institution who have:

• matriculated in medical schools (data source: Association of American Medical Colleges)
• earned doctorates in biology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics (data source: National Science Foundation)