“Eight years ago, our program’s portfolio didn’t include a single educational-themed game or project. Today, about half of those projects are educational games.”

- Ed Metz, director for the Institute of Education Sciences’ Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant program

The U.S. government is offering grants for educational games at a steady clip, and you can apply for one.

Speaking to Gamesandlearning.org, Ed Metz, the director of the Small Business Innovation Research grant program, says that now is a good time to apply for a grant for educational game production: "Now it’s not a question of whether they’re appropriate, but how we can optimize games for learning and teaching."

Grants range from $150,000 to $1 million, and companies with fewer than 500 employees are eligible to submit applications. You can find out more about how the program works by reading Gamesandlearning.org's story, and then heading over to the SBIR's webpage.

This could offer an alternative to going the corporate or venture route for funding. If you're curious about what it takes to get into the space, SpaceChem developer Zach Barth talks about the ups and downs of developing educational games in a recent interview.