Hispanic-Serving Institutions Education Grants Program

Overview

Advancing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA). The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) recognizes research, education, and extension efforts will have the greatest impacts when programs are grounded in DEIA. NIFA is committed to enhancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility of programs and encourages individuals, institutions, and organizations from underserved communities to apply to funding opportunities as lead, co-lead, or subaward recipient(s), and to engage as leaders in the peer panel review process to support the development of strong networks and collaborations. NIFA encourages applications that engage diverse communities and have broad impacts through research, education, extension, and integrated activities to address current and future challenges.

The purpose of the HSI Education Grants Program is to encourage innovative teaching or education proposals with potential to impact and become models for other institutions that serve underrepresented students at the regional or national level.
Priority Need Areas. Projects supported by this program must include/address one or more of the following priority need areas:

1. Attract and support undergraduate and graduate students from underrepresented groups to prepare them for careers related to the food, agricultural natural resources, and human systems and sciences in the United States.
2. Enhance the quality of postsecondary instruction within the above disciplines.
3. Provide opportunities and access to food and agricultural careers in the public, non-profit and private sectors.
4. Align the efforts of HSIs and other non-profit organizations to support academic development and career attainment of underrepresented groups.

Leadership Skills Development. The development of leadership skills, knowledge, and qualities are necessary to prepare students for agricultural and related careers in the private sector, government, and academia. HSI Education Grants Program teaching applications must demonstrably incorporate a leadership development component to equip underserved students with technical and leadership abilities upon graduation. Specific activities may include:

1. Developing practical applications to increase understanding of leadership roles, including critical thinking, problem solving, and communication skills; ethics and professionalism; and working in teams;
2. Connecting the academic classroom experience with daily leadership roles and organizational activities;
3. Providing opportunities for mentoring and shadowing; and
4. Organizing leadership academies, workshops, trainings, etc.

Social and Behavioral Science Disciplines. Projects that integrate social and behavioral sciences with biological sciences to provide experiential learning opportunities for students in community development programs are encouraged. Incorporation of social and behavioral sciences is important for addressing many of the challenges facing agriculture and rural communities, such as increasing global demand for food production in the face of limited natural resources, improving health and reducing obesity by engaging in heathy diets, and alleviating poverty by fostering economic opportunity.

Project Types

• Education/Teaching Projects. Single-function Education/Teaching Projects develop human capital relevant to overall program goals for U.S. agriculture. Projects should focus on developing skills necessary for entry- and mid-level technical employment or for entering graduate programs in FANH.

• Community Development Projects. Single-function Community Development Projects must deliver science-based knowledge and informal educational programs that lead to practical decision making. Program delivery may range from community-based to national audiences and use communication methods from face-to-face to electronic or a combination thereof. Community Development Projects will be funded as Regular Grants.

There are five grant types for the HSIs Education Grants Program:

• Regular Grant. Regular Grants support targeted, original, scientific Education/Teaching Projects and Community Development Projects.
• Bridge Grant. Bridge Grants, a subset of Regular Grants, may be available to enhance institutional capacity with the goal of strengthening the capacity of the applicant’s education programs and the competitiveness of future grant applications.
• Collaboration Grant. Collaboration Grants for this program must be submitted by a group of two or more HSIs, forming a linkage arrangement for the purpose of carrying out common objective(s) on the group’s behalf.
• Conference Grant. Conference Grants support scientific meetings that bring together educators to identify research, education/teaching, and/or extension needs, update information, or advance an area of education/teaching.
• Conference DATA Grant. In FY 2024 and FY 2025, one of the Conference Grants will be awarded to an institution each fiscal year to bring together HSIs that have previously received an HSI Education Grant for an Assessment and Evaluation Conference to convene HSI awardees from across the country and Puerto Rico (minimum 25 institutions).

For FY 2024 and FY 2025, there is no limit on the number of Regular, Collaboration, or Conference applications that can be submitted by an institution.

For FY 2024 and FY 2025, a PD may not apply for a Collaboration grant as the lead PD if they currently have an active USDA NIFA HSI Education Grants Program Collaboration award in its first or second year of the project.

Maximum Award Amount:

Regular – $400,000
Regular Bridge – $200,000
Collaboration – $1,200,000
Conference – $50,000
Conference DATA – $100,000

Application Due Dates:

Regular: February 6, 2024
Collaboration: February 7, 2024
Conference: February 8, 2024