● Funding · 50 states + DC
Let’s find the money for your team.
You probably don’t need to fundraise. Most robotics money is already appropriated to schools — the trick is knowing which pot to point at and what words to use. Find your state below.
● Start here
One rule explains almost every state.
Equipment, tools and your stipend are usually fundable. Students’ personal registration fees and individual travel usually aren’t.
Group transportation is often the exception that is covered. And in several states, running your team under an official student organisation — TSA and SkillsUSA both host robotics events — flips student travel and fees from “no” to “yes.” If your state is strict, that’s the door.
The fastest route needs nobody’s approval at all.
A single $49 Micro sits below the threshold where almost any district requires a quote, a purchase order or a business-office signature. Most teachers can put one on a purchasing card, or crowdfund it on DonorsChoose in a fortnight. That gets you into all seven Season One events — enough to run Line Follow and Mini Sumo on a table and find out whether your students love this before anyone fills in a form.
The grants and CTE money below are for when you’re ready to field a full competition team. They’re worth the paperwork — but they are not the only door, and they are not the first one.
| What you’re buying | Where the money comes from | How long |
|---|---|---|
| $49 Micro one tabletop robot, seven events | Teacher purchasing card · DonorsChoose · PTA · a local sponsor · department supplies | Days |
| $599 Team Kit three robots, all fifteen events | CTE and career-tech equipment budgets · state robotics grants · federal career-tech funds | Weeks to a season |
This split matters more than it looks. Career-tech money is generally meant for durable equipment, and a $49 robot is unambiguously treated as a consumable supply rather than equipment — so asking for a Micro out of a career-tech budget is the one request likely to bounce. Ask for Micros and Solos from discretionary money, and Team Kits from equipment money.
Ask for equipment
A team kit is durable equipment your school keeps and reuses, not a consumable supply. That single word changes which budget line it comes from — say equipment.
Say “career and technical”
Framed as CTE and workforce skills, robotics sits in a protected budget line. Framed as enrichment, it competes with everything else. Same programme, very different odds.
Ask in February
Districts set next year’s budgets between February and April, and buy in May and June. Ask in November and you’ll hear “maybe next year” — ask in February and next year is the one being planned.
● All 50 states + DC
Find your state.
Type your state or click a filter. The dollar figure is what your state received in federal career-and-technical education money this year — some of it is already earmarked for programmes like yours.
| State | Federal CTE funds this year | Grant that could fund your team | Status | Who to ask |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama AL | $24,481,712 | AMSTI Robotics Grant | Robotics grant | Alabama State Dept of Education / AMSTI |
| Alaska AK | $5,909,176 | We’re still checking | Researching | Alaska Dept of Education & Early Development |
| Arizona AZ | $34,386,034 | CTE State Priority Grant (formula) | CTE funding | Arizona Dept of Education |
| Arkansas AR | $14,872,770 | We’re still checking | Researching | Arkansas Dept of Education |
| California CA | $142,867,852 | CTEIG ($450M) + K12 Strong Workforce ($150M) | CTE funding | California Dept of Education |
| Colorado CO | $21,270,174 | We’re still checking | Researching | Colorado Dept of Education |
| Connecticut CT | $12,258,341 | We’re still checking | Researching | Connecticut State Dept of Education |
| Delaware DE | $6,330,763 | We’re still checking | Researching | Delaware Dept of Education |
| Florida FL | $83,166,060 | None — CAPE performance funding via FEFP | CTE funding | Florida Dept of Education |
| Georgia GA | $51,794,555 | We’re still checking | Researching | Georgia Dept of Education |
| Hawaii HI | $7,020,601 | We’re still checking | Researching | Hawaii State Dept of Education |
| Idaho ID | $8,880,905 | STEM Connect Grants | Robotics grant | Idaho STEM Action Center |
| Illinois IL | $50,778,126 | We’re still checking | Researching | Illinois State Board of Education |
| Indiana IN | $32,395,090 | K-12 Robotics Competition Grant | Robotics grant | Indiana Dept of Education |
| Iowa IA | $14,527,005 | Iowa STEM Scale-Up Program | CTE funding | Iowa Dept of Education |
| Kansas KS | $13,092,776 | We’re still checking | Researching | Kansas State Dept of Education |
| Kentucky KY | $22,022,485 | We’re still checking | Researching | Kentucky Dept of Education |
| Louisiana LA | $24,718,010 | We’re still checking | Researching | Louisiana Dept of Education |
| Maine ME | $7,020,601 | We’re still checking | Researching | Maine Dept of Education |
| Maryland MD | $20,809,864 | We’re still checking | Researching | Maryland State Dept of Education |
| Massachusetts MA | $23,372,201 | DESE STEM grant programs | CTE funding | Mass. Dept of Elementary & Secondary Education |
| Michigan MI | $46,663,531 | Robotics Competition Grant (99h) + MiSTEM | Robotics grant | Michigan Dept of Education |
| Minnesota MN | $21,461,494 | We’re still checking | Researching | Minnesota Dept of Education |
| Mississippi MS | $15,927,755 | We’re still checking | Researching | Mississippi Dept of Education |
| Missouri MO | $28,237,668 | We’re still checking | Researching | Missouri Dept of Elementary & Secondary Education |
| Montana MT | $6,791,592 | We’re still checking | Researching | Montana Office of Public Instruction |
| Nebraska NE | $8,264,969 | We’re still checking | Researching | Nebraska Dept of Education |
| Nevada NV | $12,837,087 | None dedicated — OSIT STEM grants; DRI teacher PD | CTE funding | Nevada Dept of Education |
| New Hampshire NH | $7,020,601 | We’re still checking | Researching | New Hampshire Dept of Education |
| New Jersey NJ | $29,200,049 | We’re still checking | Researching | New Jersey Dept of Education |
| New Mexico NM | $10,483,958 | We’re still checking | Researching | New Mexico Public Education Dept |
| New York NY | $64,494,920 | We’re still checking | Researching | New York State Education Dept |
| North Carolina NC | $48,775,344 | We’re still checking | Researching | North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction |
| North Dakota ND | $5,909,176 | We’re still checking | Researching | North Dakota Dept of Public Instruction |
| Ohio OH | $52,648,058 | CTE Equipment Grant; CTE Access Grant ($3.2M) | CTE funding | Ohio Dept of Education & Workforce |
| Oklahoma OK | $18,421,086 | We’re still checking | Researching | Oklahoma Dept of Career & Technology Education |
| Oregon OR | $17,358,056 | We’re still checking | Researching | Oregon Dept of Education |
| Pennsylvania PA | $50,954,913 | PAsmart — Planning to $75K, Innovation to $500K | CTE funding | Pennsylvania Dept of Education |
| Rhode Island RI | $7,020,601 | We’re still checking | Researching | Rhode Island Dept of Education |
| South Carolina SC | $24,612,626 | We’re still checking | Researching | South Carolina Dept of Education |
| South Dakota SD | $6,020,921 | We’re still checking | Researching | South Dakota Dept of Education |
| Tennessee TN | $30,746,117 | We’re still checking | Researching | Tennessee Dept of Education |
| Texas TX | $129,035,986 | None — CTE Allotment (formula, 1.1–1.48×) | CTE funding | Texas Education Agency |
| Utah UT | $17,394,096 | STEM Competition Grant | Robotics grant | Utah STEM Action Center |
| Vermont VT | $5,909,176 | We’re still checking | Researching | Vermont Agency of Education |
| Virginia VA | $32,403,569 | We’re still checking | Researching | Virginia Dept of Education |
| Washington WA | $26,008,640 | We’re still checking | Researching | Washington Office of Supt. of Public Instruction |
| West Virginia WV | $9,807,295 | We’re still checking | Researching | West Virginia Dept of Education |
| Wisconsin WI | $25,516,443 | Robotics League Participation Grants | Robotics grant | Wisconsin Dept of Public Instruction |
| Wyoming WY | $5,909,176 | We’re still checking | Researching | Wyoming Dept of Education |
| District of Columbia DC | $5,909,176 | We’re still checking | Researching | Office of the State Superintendent of Education |
“Researching” doesn’t mean there’s nothing there. It means we haven’t finished digging through that state’s grant programmes yet — the federal figure is solid either way. If you’re in one of those states, email us and we’ll research yours next. Federal figures are the US Department of Education’s estimated FY2026 allocations.
● In depth
Eleven states, with the details.
Deadlines, award amounts, match requirements and who to call. If your state is here, you have most of a grant application already.
Indiana
- Program
- K-12 Robotics Competition Grant, IC 20-20-45.5 — Indiana DOE
- Awards
- Tiered by team count: $25,000 (1–5 teams) · $50,000 (6–12) · $75,000 (13–18) · $100,000 (19+). Community teams up to $7,000 under HB 1233.
- Match
- 25% local or private, cash or in-kind. School fundraisers count; education general fund dollars do not.
- Deadline
- Mid-May, awards announced late August. Reimbursement grant — the school fronts the money.
- Covers
- Robotics kits, supplies, event registration, mentor stipends, transportation and travel.
- Requires
- A sponsor, business, or higher-ed partnership, plus a named mentor or coach.
One thing to check. A 2023 program FAQ excluded registration for state, world and international competitions — local events only. Confirm whether that still holds before you budget around it.
Separately, Indiana’s guidance on what CTE money can pay for permits CTSO advisor stipends and travel, materials to prepare for competitive events, and group student transportation — but not individual student registration fees, dues or travel.
Double-check the current award amounts with IDOE before you build a budget around them — the tiers are real but the numbers move.
Wisconsin
- Program
- Robotics League Participation Grants, Wisconsin DPI
- Award
- Up to $6,000 per team. Grades 6–12. Public, charter, private and homeschool teams all eligible.
- Match
- 1:1 — total expenses must be at least twice the reimbursement.
- Covers
- Required fees, required kits, required supplies, travel to competition for team members and the mentor, and a mentor stipend.
This is the most generous list of covered costs we have found in any state. Most states fund the equipment and the coach but not the students’ registration and travel. Wisconsin funds both.
Ohio
- Grants
- CTE Equipment Grant (competitive) · CTE Access Grant — $3.2M total, up to $320,000 per project
- Existing program
- AWT RoboBots — 15 lb combat for grades 9–12, JuniorBots 3 lb for 6–8. Free to schools; local manufacturers sponsor teams and supply an industry advisor.
- Priority
- Ohio Top Jobs List programs receive priority for equipment grants.
Ohio says it outright. The state’s own guidance on CTE spending names “student preparation for and participation in technical skills competitions aligned with career-technical education program standards” as an allowable activity. That is the single most useful sentence a robotics coach can cite in any state.
The limit is the one nearly every state applies: advisor pay, advisor travel, and equipment essential to developing occupational skills are fundable. Students’ own lodging, food, registration fees and dues are not.
Rule of thumb for Ohio: the robot, the tools and the coach are fundable. The kids’ registration and travel are not.
Pennsylvania
- Program
- PAsmart Grants, PA Dept of Education
- Awards
- CTE Planning Grants up to $75,000 · CTE Innovation Grants up to $500,000. Both require broad cross-sector partnerships.
- Existing program
- SWPA BotsIQ — high school 15 lb combat plus a free BotsIQ Academy, manufacturer-sponsored, 2026 finals at PennWest.
The most useful citation in Pennsylvania is not a grant — it is a list. PDE’s official Student Competitions page names BotsIQ and the National Robotics League alongside TSA and the PA Keystone STEM Competition. For a combat-robotics program, having the state education agency name your competition category as legitimate is worth more than most grant applications.
BotsIQ separately won a reported $498,000 grant to expand robotics and manufacturing training into Pittsburgh middle schools — so state STEM money has already gone to school robot combat here.
California
- CTEIG
- Career Technical Education Incentive Grant — $450,000,000 available for 2026–27, formula-based, for LEAs, county offices, charters and ROC/Ps.
- K12 SWP
- K12 Strong Workforce Program — $150,000,000 annually, competitive, through eight regional community college consortia. Administered by the Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, not CDE.
- Match
- CTEIG requires $2 local for every $1 state. K12 SWP is 2:1 for districts, 1:1 for ROC/Ps. Under-matching reduces the award proportionally.
- CTE pathway
- Industry sector Engineering and Architecture — robotics normally sits in Engineering Design or Engineering Technology.
- Existing program
- Sustainable League of Combat Robotics — 1 lb antweight, mostly 3D-printed, middle and high school teams across Riverside and San Bernardino counties, run by Workforce SBCSS.
The gap worth knowing: CTEIG’s allowable-cost list covers equipment and materials to maintain industry standards, and transportation for CTE leadership and work-based-learning activities including after-school. But competitions, CTSOs and registration fees are neither explicitly allowed nor prohibited. That silence is worth a phone call to the CDE CTE Leadership Office before you build a budget on it.
The SLCR precedent matters more than the money. A California county office of education already runs a school combat-robotics league. If your district asks whether a school can really run this, that is your answer.
Texas
- Mechanism
- CTE Allotment, TEC §48.106 — there is no state robotics competition grant in Texas.
- Weights
- Grades 7–12: 1.1× for CTE courses outside an approved program · 1.28× for levels 1–2 in an approved program · 1.48× for levels 3–4. Plus $150 per ADA student in a TEA-designated P-TECH.
- CTE funds
- The CTE Allowable Cost Guide permits student transportation and registration to state and national CTSO leadership conferences, and equipment for CTE instruction meeting industry standards.
Texas money reaches robotics through the funding formula rather than a grant application. In practice your conversation is with the district CTE director, not the state. Get the program coded into an approved CTE sequence and the weight follows the student.
Robotics and non-CTSO competitions are not addressed either way in the state CTE guide. Confirm locally rather than assuming.
Nevada
- The rule
- Nevada’s FY26 CTE Uses of Funds guidance states plainly: student travel to non-CTSO competition-based events is not an allowable use of funds.
- What is allowed
- Student travel costs and registration fees for CTSO competitions — DECA, FBLA, FCCLA, FFA, HOSA, SkillsUSA and TSA. Plus supplies and equipment supporting instruction toward state standards.
- Teacher PD
- Nevada Robotics at DRI — educator academies, METRICS paid PD, and a free robot lending library for participants. Teacher training, not team grants.
The workaround is real, and worth knowing before you write a budget. An independent league is not a CTSO, so Nevada state CTE money cannot pay student travel to it. But TSA runs robotics competitive events and SkillsUSA runs Mobile Robotics — affiliating your team through TSA or SkillsUSA moves student travel and registration from unallowable to allowable.
Nevada also runs OSIT STEM grants, including a STEM Workforce Challenge Grant and a K–5 STEM Education Program Grant. Those pages we haven’t been able to confirm yet.
Arizona
- Federal CTE grant
- Secondary LEAs including districts, charters and private non-profit charters. Application window 1 July – 1 August. ADE CTE Grants
- State Priority Grant
- Formula: 75% enrollment-based, 25% related-placement-based.
- CTEDs
- Arizona’s Career and Technical Education Districts are a separate and substantial secondary CTE funding structure worth approaching directly.
No named state robotics or STEM competition grant was found in Arizona. The route is federal CTE funds plus the State Priority Grant, and for many schools the CTED is the more productive conversation.
We haven’t been able to confirm Arizona’s rules on funding competition travel. Ask ADE’s CTE fiscal office directly before you budget for it — and tell us what they say, so we can put it here for the next teacher.
Michigan
- Program
- Robotics Competition Grant (99h), Michigan Dept of Education
- Awards
- Coach stipends up to $1,500 per building, plus Support Awards covering registration, materials and travel, and Advancement Awards.
- Match
- 25%.
- Also
- MiSTEM Network grants, administered through Michigan LEO.
Michigan is one of very few states that funds the coach by name. Coach burnout is the most common reason a new robotics program does not reach a second season, which makes a stipend line more valuable per dollar than an equipment line.
Florida
- Mechanism
- CAPE Act performance funding through FEFP. No named state robotics grant was found.
- Weights
- 0.3 FTE for a student completing three or more courses and an industry certification in a single CTE program. 0.08 for an A in career dual enrollment leading to a listed certification.
- Gatekeeper
- The CAPE Industry Certification Funding List — a robotics program earns money only if it leads to a certification on this list.
- CTE pathway
- Engineering cluster — Engineering Technology and Engineering Pathways frameworks.
Florida rewards certifications, not trophies. A robotics program that terminates in a listed industry certification generates real FEFP money; one that only produces competition results generates none. Design the course sequence around the certification list first, then hang the league on it.
Utah
- Program
- STEM Competition Grant, Utah STEM Action Center
- Award
- Up to $5,000 per school, capped at $100 per student. Opens 1 August, closes 31 August annually.
- Covers
- Registration fees, student supplies, in-state travel.
- Excludes
- Apparel, meals, teacher compensation, hardware, and out-of-state competitions.
This grant currently names specific competitions in its eligibility rules, so check the current list before you apply. If you want to bring a Robot Battle League team, talk to the STEM Action Center early and tell us — we will help you make the case.
Note the hardware exclusion — this grant pays fees and supplies, not robots.
● Small money goes a long way here
A $2,500 grant buys fifty robots.
Most classroom STEM grants top out between $500 and $5,000. In most robotics programmes that is not enough to start — one competition robot can cost more than the whole grant, so teachers skip these and go hunting for something bigger. At our prices $2,500 is a class set. That changes which grants are worth your afternoon.
| If you win | You can buy | Which is |
|---|---|---|
| $500 | 10 Micro robots | a small club, or one rotating class set |
| $2,500 | 50 Micro robots | every student in two sections, with spares |
| $5,000 | 50 Micros and 3 team kits | a class set, plus a squad that travels |
Event packs, track plans, score sheets and inspection checklists are free, so none of the grant goes on rules or fields. The tabletop events need a roll of tape and a folding table.
● Four you can apply for yourself
Grants a teacher applies for, not a district.
| Grant | Amount | Who applies | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rural Technology Fund | $500–$2,500 | Public schools and libraries in rural or high-poverty areas | Rolling — reviewed every 30 to 60 days |
| Toshiba America Foundation | up to $5,000 | An individual teacher, grades 6–12 | Four windows a year: 1 March, 1 June, 1 September, 1 December |
| NEA Foundation Envision Equity | up to $5,000 | NEA members | Register by 10 September, apply by 15 September |
| DonorsChoose | no cap | Any public school teacher in the US | Any time — it is crowdfunded, not a committee |
Deadlines move and programmes close. If one of these has changed, tell us and we will fix this table the same week.
Rural Technology Fund is the one most teachers miss.
It is small, it is rolling, and it says outright that it funds robotics kits. There is no season to wait for and no board meeting — a decision usually comes inside two months. If your school is rural or high-poverty, it is the shortest path there is between wanting a team and owning one.
Write the request around equipment you keep.
A reviewer reading “$2,500 for fifty robots that thirty students will use every year for five years” is being handed an easy yes. The same money described as fees, travel or consumables is a much harder one. Ask for the robots. Everything else on the list is free anyway.
● Other ways to pay for it
Two more places the money can come from.
The manufacturer down the road
This is the one that works best, and almost nobody tries it. Machine shops, fabricators and contract manufacturers near your school are desperate for young people who aren’t afraid of a shop floor. Sponsoring a team costs them less than one recruiting ad. Several school robot-combat programmes in Ohio and Pennsylvania are free to schools entirely on local manufacturer money.
Title IV-A
A federal grant of roughly $1.38 billion nationally that your district already receives, meant partly for a “well-rounded education.” STEM programming is a standard use. Ask your district’s federal programmes coordinator — they will know the name immediately.
Stuck? Send us your state and your school and we’ll help you figure out which pot to ask. We do this every week and we don’t charge for it. Need something to hand your principal? Print the one-page proposal → hello@robotbattleleague.com
● Next
Four steps, and most of them are short.
Find your state above
Note the grant name and the deadline if there is one.
Ask us for a quote
We’ll send something your business office can process, worded for a CTE budget line — and there is a one-page proposal you can print right now.
Call one local manufacturer
One phone call. The worst case is they say no and you’re where you started.
Claim a founding spot
Sixty for the first season, at $499 with free registration.