About NOAA Education

NOAA Education keeps people informed and engaged in our planet’s dynamic environment, from space weather to fish migration patterns. We provide education resources, educator and student opportunities, and competitive funding for education projects.

The NOAA education community includes programs, partners, and individuals from across NOAA. NOAA educators are skilled translators who work with students, educators, and lifelong learners everywhere. We connect people with NOAA’s unique science, places, products, and services. 

The NOAA Education Council, with support from the NOAA Office of Education, helps guide the NOAA education community. Members include 16 programs from the National Weather Service, NOAA Fisheries, NOAA Research, National Ocean Service, and NOAA Satellites. The council leads work toward the goals of the NOAA Education Strategic Plan and reports progress. 

NOAA's mandate to educate

Congress defined NOAA's role in science education in the America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology Education and Science Act of 2007, or America COMPETES. The America COMPETES Act was reauthorized in 2017 as the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act. This gives NOAA a broad mandate to educate the public, develop an education strategic plan, and evaluate our work. 

Congress has also authorized the education activities of individual programs through other laws. These laws complement the authority of the America COMPETES Act:

• Coastal Zone Management Act (National Estuarine Research Reserve System)
• Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005 (Ernest F. Hollings Scholarship Program)
• Coral Reef Conservation Act
• Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act
• Marine Debris Research, Prevention, and Reduction Act
• National Marine Sanctuaries Act
• National Sea Grant College and Program Act
• Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act)
• Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (Ocean Exploration and Research)
• Tsunami Warning and Education Act