National Institute of Food and Agriculture · Department of Agriculture
Tribal Colleges Research Grants Program
Key facts
- Deadline
- Due Dec 31, 2026 · 85 days left
- Award size
- $150K – $2.5M
- Total available
- $11.6M · about 15 awards
- Match ?
- Not required · Work out your budget and match
- Who can apply
- Set by the official notice: see Who can apply below
- Where
- Anywhere in the U.S., including Tennessee
How this fits you
- Only tribes or Native American / Native Hawaiian organizations can apply
Tell us who you are to see whether you're eligible.
Official notice: https://simpler.grants.gov/opportunity/093302d1-5ade-4c5b-a90a-ab6e43bcc72b · Printed from grantme.click/grants/30fb531f-f7a3-4e9f-8e35-d6bce9da3280
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About this grant
TCRGP focuses on development of research capacity at Tribal colleges, specifically in agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences. The program aims to teach leadership skills, knowledge, and qualities that are necessary to prepare students to be competitive with other students for agricultural and related careers in the private sector, government, and academia. Of interest are the projects involving innovative agricultural technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), data science, robotics, and other cutting edge digital tools. NIFA encourages incorporation of opportunities for training undergraduate students in these areas to equip them with the foundational knowledge and skills necessary to adapt to and thrive in an increasingly digital society and expose them to educational and career pathways in AI for food and agricultural sciences.
Who can apply, from the official notice
Applicants for the TCRGP must meet all the requirements discussed in this NOFO. Failure to meet the eligibility criteria by the application deadline may result in exclusion from consideration or preclude NIFA from making an award. For those new to Federal financial assistance, NIFA’s About Grants provides highly recommended information about grants and other resources to help understand the Federal awards process.The eligible 1994s are listed below:1) Aaniiih Nakoda College2) Bay Mills Community College3) Blackfeet Community College4) Cankdeska Cikana Community College5) Chief Dull Knife College6) College of Menominee Nation7) College of the Muscogee Nation8) Dine College9) Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College10) Fort Peck Community College11) Haskell Indian Nations University12) Ilisagvik College13) Institute of American Indian and Alaska Native Culture and Arts Development.14) Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College15) Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa Community College16) Leech Lake Tribal College17) Little Big Horn College18) Little Priest Tribal College19) Navajo Technical University20) Nebraska Indian Community College21) Northwest Indian College22) Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College23) Oglala Lakota College24) Red Lake Nation College25) Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College26) Salish Kootenai College27) Sinte Gleska University28) Sisseton Wahpeton College29) Sitting Bull College30) Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute31) Stone Child College32) Tohono O'odham Community College33) Turtle Mountain Community College34) United Tribes Technical College35) White Earth Tribal and Community College USDA will not accept competitive applications for grants and cooperative agreements submitted for dangerous gain-of-function research, as defined in Section 8 of E.O. 14292.Duplicate or Multiple Submissions – duplicate or multiple submissions are not allowed. NIFA will disqualify both applications if an applicant submits duplicate or multiple submissions.
Your schedule, working back from the deadline
- Oct7
Check that your SAM.gov registration is active (or start it now)
Grants.gov: allow up to 10 business days for SAM registration, weeks or months if information isn't verified. It must be renewed every year. Grants.gov - Dec10
Ask partners for letters of support or commitment
Suggested: partners need about three weeks to write and sign letters. - Dec24
Finish a complete draft for a final review
Suggested: leave about a week for someone else to read the draft. - Dec29
Submit
Grants.gov: submit at least 24–48 hours before the deadline: uploads fail, systems slow down, errors need fixing. Grants.gov blog - Dec31
Deadline
From the funder.
Save this grant to put these dates in My grants and your private calendar.
Writing the need statement? Rhea County facts with citations.
What the official notice requires
Pulled from the official notice FY26-TCRGP-NOFO.pdf (30 pages) so you can see the requirements at a glance. Each item shows the notice's own words. Open the page to read it in context.
Award size and project length
Award amounts here are for the whole project · p. 12
“The maximum amount for a New Discovery award is generally $350,000 total for the entire project period. d.” Open page 12
Registrations you need first (1)
Grants.gov · p. 10
“Phase 1 will accept applications through Grants.gov until 5 p.m.” Open page 10
Registration is free but can take weeks, so start now, not when the deadline is close. Get-ready checklist
What to submit
Data management plan · p. 11
“A data management plan indicating how data within the 1994 institutions will be protected is required.” Open page 11
Letters of support or commitment · p. 12
“Letters of commitment from collaborators, community members, and elders are required. c.” Open page 12
Form SF-424 · p. 17
“Part IV Provide an accurate email address, where designated, on the SF-424 R&R.” Open page 17
Budget narrative / justification · p. 19
“Applicants should submit a budget narrative for each year and for the cumulative budget. 3.” Open page 19
Timeline or schedule of completion · p. 20
“A description of mentoring activities that may include, but are not limited to, peer mentoring or layered mentoring, whereby a set of mentees are progressively mentored by others at a higher level in their careers; please incorporate these activities into…” Open page 20
Formatting rules
1.5-spaced · p. 17
“The PN must not exceed 15 1.5 spaced pages of written text (Times New Roman) and up to 2 1.5 spaced additional pages for figures and tables (the font size for tables should be no smaller than 11 points, Times New Roman).” Open page 17
Cost share or match
Cost share / match · p. 15
“Cost Sharing or Matching No Match Required - The TCRGP has no matching requirement.” Open page 15
Mistakes that get applications rejected (1)
Duplicate application: NIFA will disqualify both applications if an applicant submits duplicate or multiple submissions. · p. 15
“NIFA will disqualify both applications if an applicant submits duplicate or multiple submissions.” Open page 15
About the federal program
1994 Institutions Research Grants, also called “Tribal Colleges Research Grants Program”
Program number 10.227 (the federal Assistance Listing number) · U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture · Project grant
How applications are judged
NIFA evaluates each application in a two-part process. First, each application is reviewed to ensure that it meets the administrative requirements set forth in the NOFO. Second, a peer-review process will be used to evaluate the scientific and technical merit of applications that have meet the administrative requirements.
After each peer review panel has completed deliberations, the responsible NIFA program staff will either recommend an application for support from available funds or decline an application due to insufficient funds or unfavorable review.
See the Program NOFO for more information about evaluation criteria.
Match
None required (federal program listing).
Examples of funded projects
Fiscal year 2025: We did not fund any project in 2025 from FY2025 funding allocations.