The U.S. National Science Foundation is an independent federal agency that supports science and engineering in all 50 states and U.S. territories. NSF was established in 1950 by Congress to promote the progress of science, advance the national health, prosperity and welfare, and secure the national defense.
The Broadening Participation in Computing (BPC) program is designed to significantly increase the number of U.S. citizens and permanent residents obtaining post-secondary degrees in computing disciplines. It emphasizes encouraging the participation of underrepresented groups such as women, persons with disabilities, Blacks and African Americans, Hispanics, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. The program focuses on developing and implementing innovative methods, frameworks, and strategies for improving the recruitment and retention of these students through undergraduate and graduate degrees. It supports projects targeting stages of the academic pipeline through faculty ranks, with an expectation for projects to have the potential for widespread, national impact. This includes either developing effective practices that could be widely adopted or deploying existing effective practices to reach larger audiences.