Distance Education Grants Program for Institutions of Higher Education in Insular Areas

For programmatic or technical questions:
InsularGrants@usda.gov

For application questions:
grantapplicationquestions@usda.gov

For awards questions:
awards@usda.gov

Grants.gov contact center:
800.518.4726
support@grants.gov
Self-service knowledge base

Distance Education Grants (DEG) Program for Institutions of Higher Education in Insular Areas provides funding to institutions of higher education in U.S. territories, commonwealth, and freely associated states designed to strengthen the capacity to carry out resident instruction, curriculum, and teaching programs in the food and agriculture sciences through distance education technology.

Activities may include:

• Acquire the equipment, instrumentation, networking capability, hardware, software, digital network technology, and infrastructure necessary to teach students and teachers about technology in the classroom
• Develop and enhance educational services, including faculty development, to prepare students or faculty seeking a degree or certificate that is approved by the state or a regional accrediting body recognized by the Secretary of Education
• Provide teacher education, library and media specialist training, and preschool and teacher aid certification to individuals who seek to acquire or enhance technology skills in order to use technology in the classroom or instructional process
• Implement a joint project to provide education regarding technology in the classroom with a local educational agency, community-based organization, national nonprofit organization, or business
• Provide leadership development to administrators, board members, and faculty of eligible institutions with institutional responsibility for technology education

DEG supports social and behavioral science disciplines. DEG projects that integrate social and behavioral sciences to provide experiential learning opportunities for students in applied research and related community development programs are encouraged. Incorporation of social and behavioral sciences is important for addressing many of the challenges facing agriculture and rural communities.

Eligible applicants are individual institutions of higher education, branch institutions of a state system, or independent branch campuses. All eligible institutions must demonstrate that they have a significant commitment to higher education programs in the food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences and to each specific subject area for which grant funds are to be used.

Insular areas include:

• American Samoa
• The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
• The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
• The Federated States of Micronesia
• Guam
• The Republic of the Marshall Islands
• The Republic of Palau
• The Virgin Islands of the United States

Award ceiling: $200,000
Award floor: $50,000
Project period: 36-48 months
Estimated number of awards: 5
Estimated total program funding: $1,000,000

Links to the full announcement, application instructions, and the online application process are available through grants.gov.