Higher Education National Needs Graduate Fellowship Grants

Awards are specifically intended to support traineeship programs that engage outstanding students to pursue and complete their degrees in USDA mission areas. Applicants provide clarity about the philosophy of their graduate training, and relevance to USDA mission sciences, NIFA priorities and national science education policies and statistics.

Proposals may be submitted by all U.S. colleges and universities that confer a master's or doctoral degree in at least one area of the food and agricultural sciences targeted for national needs fellowships. As defined in Section 1404 of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977, as amended (7 U.S.C. 3103), the terms "college" and "university" mean "an educational institution in any State which: (a) Admits as regular students only persons having a certificate of graduation from a school providing secondary education, or the recognized equivalent of such a certificate; (b) is legally authorized within such State to provide a program of education beyond secondary education; (c) provides an educational program for which a bachelor's degree or any other higher degree is awarded; (d) is a public or other nonprofit institution; and (e) is accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association."

(1) The degree to which the proposal clearly establishes that the proposed program of graduate training will result in the development of outstanding scientific/professional expertise related to the national need area and in a reasonable period of time; (2) the degree to which the proposed program of study reflects special features such as a combination-disciplinary, approach (inter-disciplinary, multi-disciplinary or cross-disciplinary), a unique collateral specialization in a related discipline, experimental learning opportunities, a unique mentoring program, seminars, or a multi-university collaborative approach; (3) the degree to which the proposal establishes that the institution's faculty, facilities and equipment, instructional support resources, and other attributes are excellent for providing outstanding graduate study and research at the forefront of science and technology related to the chosen area of national need; (4) the degree to which the institution's plans and procedures for recruitment and selection of academically outstanding fellows and for monitoring and facilitating fellow's progress through a program of study reflect excellence as documented in the proposal; (5) the degree to which supporting summary data substantiate program quality in the targeted national need area; (6) the quality of the proposal as reflected by its substantive content, organization, clarity, and accuracy; and (7) any additional evaluation criteria as cited in the annual...

Fiscal year 2025: Program not competed in FY 2025.