Education Innovation and Research (formerly Investing in Innovation (i3) Fund) (84.411)
Education Innovation and Research (formerly Investing in Innovation (i3) Fund) (Assistance Listing 84.411) is run by the Department of Education. It awarded $967 million in 179 grants from fiscal 2021 to 2025, about $5.4 million per award on average. No funding opportunity is open on Grants.gov right now.
The typical award was $4.0 million. Half of the 179 awards fell between $3.6 million and $8.0 million, and they ranged from $304,829 to $15.0 million.
- Awarded, FY 2021 to 2025$967 million
- Grant awards179
- Typical award$4.0 million
- Awarded in FY 2025$209 million
- Size rank259 of 1824
- Type of assistanceProject grants
Key findings
- Annual funding rose from $178 million in fiscal 2021 to $209 million in fiscal 2025.
- It is the 259th largest of 1,824 federal grant programs by five-year awards.
- The 20 largest recipients received 46% of the money.
- Awards went to recipients in 36 states and territories.
What the program funds
To support the creation, development, implementation, replication, and scaling up of evidence-based, field-initiated innovations designed to improve student achievement and attainment for high-need students through a tiered-evidence framework that supports larger awards for projects with the strongest evidence base and supports promising earlier-stage projects that undergo rigorous evaluation.
Open opportunities
No opportunity under this program is open or forecast on Grants.gov right now. Programs often post once a year, so the funding history below shows what to expect.
Rules from the program listing
Who can apply
(1) Local educational agencies (LEAs); (2) State educational agencies (SEAs); (3) the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE); (4) consortia of LEAs or SEAs; (5) nonprofit organizations; or (6) SEAs, LEAs, or the BIE in consortia with a nonprofit organization, a business, an educational service agency, or an institution of higher education.
What the money can and cannot pay for
The Department will awards 3 types of grants: (1) early-phase grants for the development, implementation, and feasibility testing of a program which prior research suggests has promise, in order to determine whether the program can improve student achievement (similar to Development grants under i3); (2) mid-phase grants for implementation and rigorous evaluation of programs that have been successfully implemented under early-phase grants or have met similar criteria for documenting program effectiveness (similar to Validation grants under i3); and (3) expansion and replication of programs that have been found to produce a sizable, important impact under a mid-phase grant or have met similar criteria for documenting program effectiveness (similar to Scale-up grants under i3). All grantees must carry out a rigorous independent evaluation of the effectiveness of their project.
Matching requirements
This program has no statutory formula. Applicants must secure matching funds as specified in the Notice Inviting Applications published in the Federal Register.MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing.
Award range and average, in the agency's words
Est. Range: $3,000,000-$15,000,000.
Funding history and past recipients
From fiscal 2021 to 2025, Education Innovation and Research (formerly Investing in Innovation (i3) Fund) (84.411) awarded$967 million across 179 grant awards, an average of $5.4 million per award.
Who usually wins
Nonprofits received 37% of the money, colleges and universities 34% and state and local governments 21%.
| Recipient type | Awards | Amount | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nonprofits | 68 | $361 million | 37% |
| Colleges and universities | 53 | $325 million | 34% |
| State and local governments | 42 | $201 million | 21% |
| Businesses | 12 | $64.8 million | 6.7% |
| Small businesses | 2 | $8.0 million | 0.8% |
| Other | 2 | $6.9 million | 0.7% |
By state
35 states have a page for this program: those that received at least $1 million or 10 awards.
| State | Awards | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| California | 32 | $170 million |
| Texas | 14 | $102 million |
| Massachusetts | 15 | $76.1 million |
| Virginia | 13 | $63.7 million |
| New York | 14 | $63.0 million |
| Illinois | 10 | $38.5 million |
| South Carolina | 4 | $35.8 million |
| Alaska | 4 | $32.8 million |
| Kansas | 3 | $32.4 million |
| Missouri | 6 | $31.1 million |
| North Carolina | 5 | $29.3 million |
| Pennsylvania | 5 | $24.2 million |
| District of Columbia | 3 | $23.0 million |
| Florida | 5 | $22.6 million |
| Rhode Island | 3 | $22.3 million |
| Tennessee | 2 | $19.7 million |
| Utah | 2 | $19.5 million |
| Wisconsin | 2 | $17.8 million |
| Michigan | 2 | $17.7 million |
| Maryland | 3 | $15.5 million |
| Oregon | 4 | $15.5 million |
| Georgia | 2 | $13.8 million |
| Indiana | 2 | $13.1 million |
| New Jersey | 3 | $9.2 million |
| New Mexico | 1 | $7.8 million |
| Alabama | 3 | $7.7 million |
| Colorado | 2 | $6.9 million |
| Louisiana | 3 | $6.7 million |
| Arizona | 2 | $5.2 million |
| Kentucky | 2 | $5.2 million |
| Washington | 2 | $5.2 million |
| Ohio | 2 | $4.4 million |
| Idaho | 1 | $3.6 million |
| New Hampshire | 1 | $3.6 million |
| Connecticut | 1 | $1.7 million |
| Nebraska | 1 | $603,489 |