DOE selects 16 universities as winners of the PROSPECT Planning Prize for ambitious plans to train the next generation of mining, material science, and critical minerals and materials workforce and expand pathways to good-paying American jobs
Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation
October 26, 2026
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WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation (CMEI) today selected 16 universities to receive a total of $16 million through the PROSPECT Planning Prize. The winning universities will advance nationwide efforts to grow the skilled workforce required to produce, process, recover, and recycle critical minerals in the United States while creating good-paying jobs. Rebuilding America’s critical minerals and mining workforce is a key priority for the Trump Administration and will strengthen a vital sector of the economy for generations to come.
“America has abundant natural resources, but we need the skilled workforce to turn those resources into economic drivers that will grow our economy and create new jobs,” said Assistant Secretary of Energy Audrey Robertson. “For decades, we have allowed our mining and critical minerals workforce to decline and our domestic supply chains of critical minerals to weaken. PROSPECT is about reversing that trend by challenging universities to rapidly grow the number of graduates ready to build and sustain the American critical minerals supply chains, from mines to materials.”
The winning universities demonstrated outstanding planning for innovative programs aimed at substantially increasing the number of graduates and other credentialed professionals prepared for careers in mining and related supply chain fields in the next two years. The United States, which faces a growing shortage of skilled mining and critical minerals professionals, will require an estimated 6,000 new mining engineers needed over the next decade. Expanding the domestic talent pipeline is essential to strengthening domestic supply chains, reducing reliance on foreign nations for critical materials, and will lead to the creation of thousands of new, good-paying American jobs.
The selections are part of DOE’s broader $100 million Providing Opportunities for Specialized Education in Critical Technologies (PROSPECT) initiative, which delivers on President Trump’s bold agenda to restore American energy dominance, secure long term economic growth, rebuild domestic supply chains, and reduce reliance on foreign adversaries for critical minerals.
Selected universities include:
- Colorado School of Mines
- Columbia University
- Michigan Technological University
- Missouri University of Science and Technology
- Montana Technological University
- New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
- South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
- The Pennsylvania State University
- The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP)
- The University of Utah
- University of Alaska Fairbanks
- University of Arizona
- University of Kentucky
- University of Nevada, Reno
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
- West Virginia University
Learn more about this competition, including key dates and submission details, on the PROSPECT Prize page.
The PROSPECT Planning Prize is funded by CMEI and managed by the National Laboratory of the Rockies under the American-Made prize program.
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