Unidata has been told by the NWS that
...the AWIPS II software will indeed be available to Unidata for distribution to U.S. universities, through open source licensing. In separate conversations with Raytheon people, we received the same assurance as well.
Supposedly we will get a letter from both Raytheon and the NWS "before
the Users Committee meeting in early April" that will clarify the
AWIPS-II licensing for the Unidata community.
I hope this is the case, and if so, its a smart move by NWS and Raytheon, and the right thing to do with taxpayer's dollars.