Higher Education Challenge Grants Program

by: Iola Bonggay

The National Institute of Food and Agriculture, more commonly referred to as NIFA, is a United States federal government agency operating under the Department of Agriculture that is primarily responsible for consolidating all federally-funded agricultural research studies.

The establishment of NIFA was mandated under the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 in an attempt to initiate and enable technological innovations that have the potential to improve American agriculture, thus make it more productive, environmentally sustainable, and economically viable.

In accordance with this mission, the National Institute of Food and Agriculture has recently constituted the Higher Education Challenge Grants Program in an attempt to boost and enhance the quality of formal, postsecondary-level agricultural sciences education.

The projects that will be funded under this program are those that mean to work towards ensuring a competent, eligible, and diverse system that would be beneficial to the food and agricultural sciences industry.

In that context, the National Institute Food and Agriculture also wants the proposed projects to achieve the following goals:

a) Substantially increase the number of students who are willing to pursue and complete a postsecondary degree in the food and agricultural sciences.

  (continued...)

Higher Education Challenge Grants Program
  Page 2

About The Author Iola Bonggay is an editor of TopGovernmentGrants.com one the the most comprehensive Websites offering information on government grants and federal government programs. She also maintains Websites providing resources on environmental grants and grants for youth programs.

Additional Resources

category - Education Grants

Ethical Schools Project in Peru
The Ethical Schools Project revolves around the notion of promoting a culture of ethical behavior and civic responsibility among members of the youth, as well as teachers and parents. The project also aims to explore ways that would contribute to a reduction in corruption and other forms of illicit activities such as cocoa cultivation and illegal environmental degradation, which are both common practices in Peru.

---

What does it mean that Federal Student Aid is a PBO?
A PBO is a Performance Based Organization representing an initiative that was created in order to help the government operate more effectively and efficiently. When people call Federal Student Aid a PBO, this means that they are committed to and hold the same standards of the Performance Based Organization.

---

Tribal Colleges Research Grants Program
In keeping with this mission, the National Institutes of Food and Agriculture has recently established the Tribal Colleges Research Grants Program in an attempt to conduct agricultural research studies that address high priority concerns of tribal, national, or multistate significance.

---

Financing Your Education with Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants
Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants assist those undergraduate students enrolled in a postsecondary education that cannot afford their educational expenses without financial assistance. The grant is in place to help them meet their educational expenses to the successful completion of a postsecondary degree.

---