Hispanic Serving Institutions Education Grants

The HSI program aims to attract outstanding students and produce graduates capable of enhancing the Nation's food and agricultural scientific and professional workforce. Grants under this program will be awarded to: (1) support the activities of consortia of Hispanic-serving Institutions to enhance educational opportunity for students; (2) strengthen institutional educational capacities including libraries, curriculum, faculty, scientific instrumentation, instruction delivery systems, and student recruitment and retention, in order to respond to identified State, regional, or national, educational needs in the food and agricultural sciences; (3) attract and support undergraduate and graduate students to prepare them for careers related to the food, agricultural, and natural resource systems of the United States, beginning with the mentoring of students at the high school level and continuing with the provision of financial support for students through their attainment of a doctoral degree; and (4) facilitate cooperative initiatives between two or more Hispanic-Serving Institutions, or between Hispanic-Serving Institutions and units of State government or 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.

Hispanic serving institutions are eligible to receive funds under this program. "Hispanic serving institutions" means an institution of higher education which, at the time of application, has an enrollment of undergraduate full-time equivalent students that is at least 25 percent Hispanic students, and which (1) admits as regular students only persons having a certificate of graduation from a school providing secondary education, or the recognized equivalent of such certificate; (2) is a public or other nonprofit institutions accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting body; and (3) is legally authorized to provide a program of education beyond the secondary level for which a 2-year associate, baccalaureate, or higher degree is awarded. Applications may be submitted by, and awards may only be made to, public or other non-profit Hispanic-Serving Institutions as defined in the definitions section of this solicitation.

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.

Fiscal year 2025: No awards were made in FY25