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

Alaska Native-Serving and Native Hawaiian-Seving Institutions Education Competitive Grants Program
The National Institute of Food and Agriculture has recently constituted the Alaska Native-Serving and Native Hawaiian-Seving Institutions Education Competitive Grants Program wherein it intends to award funds in an attempt to support education, applied research, and several other related community development programs.

---

Education Grants for High Achieving Students
Academic Competitiveness Grants assist those undergraduate postsecondary students that have completed a meticulous course of study in high school. Financial grant assistance is provided on need-basis to help these students meet their educational expenses.

---

Student Loans Available Directly from the Federal Government
There are different variations of a Federal Direct Student Loan available; these are dependent on whether or not the student is eligible for government assistance. Need based programs include the Stafford Loan and the Direct Subsidized Loan; while non-need based programs are the Direct PLUS program, and the Direct Unsubsidized Loan.

---

Financial Aid for Students - The Role of the Federal Student Aid Office
The Federal Student Aid Office makes sure that eligible students get to benefit from financial assistance to complete an education beyond high school. The Office plays a vital role in the entire financial aid process and has an active role in ensuring that students have access to all the information they need when requesting federal assistance to attend college.

---