Digital PromiseGrant

Up to $600,000 K-12 AI Infrastructure Grant

Nov 20, 2026 23:59:00 Etc/GMT+12

Opportunity type

Grant

Funding

Fully Funded

Location

United States

Deadline

Nov 20, 2026 23:59:00 Etc/GMT+12

About this opportunity

Digital Promise's K-12 AI Infrastructure Program is funding up to two teams to build an openly licensed package of tools, workflows and documentation that makes it easier for edtech developers to explore, test and plug education-specific datasets, benchmarks and models into AI-enabled formative assessment products. The work targets a real classroom problem: teachers and AI tools such as tutors, feedback assistants and analytics dashboards rarely coordinate, so teachers cannot see, guide or monitor what the AI is doing. Think an education-tuned open-source agent harness, a reference architecture or a starter kit that many developers can build on.

What you get:

A grant of up to $600,000, from a total pool of $1 million shared across at most two awards
18 months of funding in three six-month phases, starting 1 February 2027
Early access to new public goods from the program's funded projects, plus introductions to the teams building them
Separate program funds to pay developers and other grantees who work with you, so you do not need to budget for them
Release of your package on the K-12 AI Infrastructure Platform, hosted by DrivenData, with publicity from the program

What you'll do:

Phase 1: build a working prototype that uses already published public goods to improve teacher and AI coordination on formative assessment, covering at least four developer-facing tasks
Phase 2: extend it to include new public goods the program releases in summer 2027, with first benchmark or eval results
Phase 3: work with at least three downstream developers, refine the package and release it publicly after a safety review
License all code under MIT or Apache 2.0 and datasets under CC-BY-4.0, and include a teacher-facing demonstration

Key dates:

RFP released 7 October 2026
Applicant webinar Monday 26 October 2026 at 4:00 p.m. ET
Proposals due 20 November 2026 at 11:59 p.m. Anywhere on Earth
Applicants hear back by February 2027; recipients announced early 2027
Grant starts 1 February 2027 and runs 18 months

More information:

Full RFP as a PDF on the program site
Applicant FAQ on the program site
Applicant form template (Google Doc) linked from the RFP page
Questions: k12ai-infrastructure@digitalpromise.org

Who can apply

Open to US-based entities, including US territories such as Puerto Rico and Guam
Eligible applicants include edtech companies, for-profit and nonprofit organisations, school districts and higher education institutions
Nonprofits under fiscal sponsorship are eligible
Organisations based outside the US are not eligible; team members other than the PI may be located abroad, for example as consultants
Outputs must clearly serve US-based students
The team must include both AI or technical expertise and educational or learning sciences expertise
One application per lead organisation; organisations or universities with more than 2,000 staff may submit one per department or school, each with a distinct team
Submit a 350-word abstract, a narrative PDF of up to 6,000 words, a supplemental PDF with CVs and letters of commitment, and a budget spreadsheet in the program template
Institutional overhead is capped at 15 percent
Letters of support from developers who would take part strengthen a proposal

AI Verification

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Cross-checked 11 of 11 key facts

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Good to know

+Large award: up to $600,000 to one applicant over 18 months
+Established backer: Digital Promise, with Learning Data Insights, DrivenData, Georgetown's Massive Data Institute and Catalyst @ Penn GSE
+Exceptionally clear RFP: amounts, phases, eligibility, evaluation criteria, allowable costs and submission format are all published
+No application fee anywhere in the RFP page, PDF or FAQ
+Open-source output aimed at better AI for US students furthest from opportunity

Worth checking yourself

!US-based entities only (US territories included); organisations outside the US cannot apply, though non-PI team members abroad can contribute as consultants
!Organisations apply, not individuals; it needs a team with both AI engineering and learning sciences expertise
!$600,000 is a maximum; the $1 million pool is split across at most two awards
!Submitting means registering an account on the Digital Promise Program Portal (Skipso)
!Deadline is 11:59 p.m. Anywhere on Earth on 20 November 2026, which is 6:59 a.m. ET on 21 November
!The FAQ still lists the applicant webinar as 'To be announced' while the RFP page and announcement give Monday 26 October at 4 p.m. ET
!Overhead capped at 15 percent; pre-award costs, lobbying and equipment over $5,000 without approval are not allowed

Sources checked

K1k12-ai-infrastructure.orgApplyK1k12-ai-infrastructure.orgApplyK1k12-ai-infrastructure.orgApplyK1k12-ai-infrastructure.orgApplyDIdigitalpromise.orgOfficialK1k12-ai-infrastructure.orgApplyDPdp.skipso.comOfficialDIdigitalpromise.orgOfficialLNlnkd.inOfficial

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