The NNSA-sponsored Stewardship Science Academic Alliance (SSAA) Program funds academic research in three subject areas – high energy density physics, materials under extreme conditions, and low energy nuclear science.  The goal of the program is to create opportunities for scientists in physics disciplines that are under-funded by other government agencies but very important to NNSA missions.  An important focus of the program is the training of students who will contribute to scientific discovery in the above subject areas, and potentially be employed at one of our national laboratories.  In 2008, the SSAA program funds four Centers of Excellence, operated as cooperative agreements, and approximately 40 grants.