Photo courtesy Canva

Last week, U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D., led a bipartisan letter urging full funding for the Department of Defense’s STARBASE program in the fiscal year 2026 budget. A longtime supporter of STARBASE, Senator Marshall has championed the program’s hands-on STEM education opportunities for elementary and middle school students across Kansas.

The DoD STARBASE program is designed for elementary students, mainly fifth graders, with the goal of sparking their interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). Operated by the Kansas National Guard at five locations—Kansas City, Manhattan, Salina, Topeka, and Wichita—the program offers a 5-day, hands-on STEM curriculum aligned with state and national standards. STARBASE is provided at no cost to participating schools, though schools are responsible for transportation.

Since 1993, the STARBASE program has served over 131,000 fifth-grade students across Kansas, including nearly 7,400 during the 2023–24 school year, along with an additional 6,900 students through Advanced programs and summer outreach.

More information about the STARBASE program can be found here.

The full bill text can be found here.