Secondary Education, Two-Year Postsecondary Education, and Agriculture in the K-12 Classroom Challenge Grants Program

Christopher Green
856.328.7396
christopher.green@usda.gov

Donna Hiatt
816.702.9678
donna.hiatt@usda.gov

The purpose of the Secondary Education, Two-Year Postsecondary Education, and Agriculture in the K-12 Classroom Challenge Grants (SPECA) program is to award grants to:

• Enhance curricula in agricultural education
• Increase faculty teaching competencies
• Interest young people in pursuing higher education in order to prepare for scientific and professional careers in the food and agricultural sciences
• Promote the incorporation of agriscience and agribusiness subject matter into other instructional programs, particularly classes in science, business, and consumer education
• Facilitate joint initiatives by the grant recipient with other secondary schools, Institutions of higher education that award an associate degree, and institutions of higher education that award a bachelor's degree to maximize the development and use of resources, such as faculty, facilities, and equipment, to improve agriscience and agribusiness education
• Support other initiatives designed to meet local, state, regional, or national needs related to promoting excellence in agriscience and agribusiness education
• Support current agriculture in the classroom programs for grades K–12

Projects that integrate social and biological sciences to address many of the challenges facing agriculture and rural communities are a priority, such as:

• Increasing global demand for food production in the face of limited natural resources
• Improving health and reducing obesity by engaging in healthy lifestyles and consuming healthy diets
• Alleviating poverty by fostering economic opportunity

Eligible applicants include:

• Public secondary schools
• Public and private nonprofit junior and community colleges
• Institutions of higher education
• Nonprofit organizations with 501(c)(3) status

Award ceiling: $150,000 for the entire project period
Award floor: $50,000
Project period: 24-36 months
Estimated number of awards: 9
Estimated total program funding: $900,000

Links to the full announcement and online application process are available through grants.gov. The application instructions will be found on the related documents tab.