The House Science, Space, and Technology Committee held a
hearing on 4 June to examine the Administration's proposal to restructure the current 226 federal STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) education programs into 112 through program consolidation and elimination. In the FY 2014 budget request, the Administration proposed having three lead agencies for STEM programs. Instead of having education programs within mission agencies, the Department of Education would lead K–12 programs; NSF would focus on undergraduate and graduate education; and the Smithsonian would lead public outreach. At the hearing, Members expressed concern about the loss of programs, particularly NASA education programs.