Higher Education Challenge Grants Program

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The Higher Education Challenge Grants Program offers grants to colleges and universities to strengthen institutional capacities, including curriculum, faculty, scientific instrumentation, instruction delivery systems, and student recruitment and retention. The overall program objective is to respond to identified state, regional, national, or international educational needs in the food and agricultural sciences, or in rural economic, community, and business development.

The program goals are to:

• Strengthen institutional capacities, including curriculum, faculty, scientific instrumentation, instruction delivery systems, and student recruitment and retention, to respond to identified state, regional, national, or international educational needs in the food and agricultural sciences, or in rural economic, community, and business development
• Attract and support citizens, nationals, or permanent residents of the United States to pursue advanced degrees in food and agricultural sciences or in rural economic, community, and business development
• Facilitate cooperative initiatives between two or more eligible institutions, or between eligible institutions and units of state government or organizations in the private sector, to maximize the development and use of resources such as faculty, facilities, and equipment to improve food and agricultural sciences teaching programs, or teaching programs emphasizing rural economic, community, and business development
• Design and implement food and agricultural sciences programs, or programs emphasizing rural, economic, community, and business development, to build teaching, research, and extension capacity across a range of colleges and universities
• Advocate for scholarly initiatives for third and fourth year undergraduates to encourage students to consider pursuing advanced degrees to address demands for highly skilled workforce in food and agricultural sciences, as well as in rural economic, community, and business development
• Expand opportunities for skills-focused education that enable students to pursue and advanced degrees in the food and agricultural sciences, supporting the development of a skilled workforce
• Enhance the quality of instruction for graduate degrees in the food and agricultural sciences, as well as first professional degrees in the veterinary sciences to help meet current and future workforce needs in these areas
• Attract exceptionally talented citizens, nationals, or permanent residents of the United States into research or academic careers in the food and agricultural sciences who will engage in graduate and postdoctoral fellowship programs

Accredited land-grant institutions and other colleges and universities having a demonstrable capacity to carry out the teaching of food and agricultural sciences and confer a graduate degree in at least one discipline or area of food and agricultural sciences are eligible to apply.

Award ceiling: $750,000
Award floor: $150,000
Project period: 36-48 months
Estimated total program funding: $5,700,000

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