ALASKA NATIVE-SERVING AND NATIVE HAWAIIAN-SERVING INSTITUTIONS EDUCATION COMPETITIVE GRANTS PROGRAM | USDA NIFA AHSI 008601

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA NIFA AHSI 008601

The Alaska Native-Serving and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions Education Competitive Grants Program (often shortened to ANNH) is a discretionary grant program run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). Its overall aim is capacity building: helping eligible Alaska Native-Serving Institutions and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions strengthen what they can offer in education, applied research, and related community development activities. The program is intentionally flexible in that it allows each institution to define its own needs and priorities, as long as the proposed work fits within a broadly defined set of food and agricultural sciences-related disciplines. In practice, that can include work tied to agriculture, food systems, natural resources, and other closely related fields that support local communities and workforce pipelines.

NIFA signals several core priorities it wants to see reflected in competitive proposals. Projects are favored when they improve educational equity for underrepresented students, build or modernize an institution's educational capacity, and better prepare students for careers connected to U.S. food, agriculture, and natural resource systems. Another emphasis is on maximizing the development and use of resources that directly improve teaching programs in food and agricultural sciences, meaning proposals that strengthen curriculum, hands-on training, instructional facilities, student support, and faculty capability are generally aligned with what the program is trying to accomplish. While the opportunity references education, it also explicitly includes applied research and community development, which suggests NIFA is looking for projects that connect classroom learning to real community and industry needs.

Eligibility is narrowly defined and tied to federal statute. Applicants must be individual public or private, nonprofit institutions of higher education that meet the definitions of an Alaska Native-Serving Institution or a Native Hawaiian-Serving Institution as established under Title III, Part A of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (as amended, 20 U.S.C. 1059d). The program also clarifies how eligibility works for multi-campus systems and off-site campuses. Branch institutions within a state university system can apply as separate entities if they are separately accredited as degree-granting institutions and otherwise meet the statutory definition. Likewise, an independent branch campus may apply if it meets the same statutory definition; the opportunity describes an independent branch campus as a geographically separate, permanent unit offering credit-bearing courses and associate or bachelor's degree programs, with meaningful autonomy such as its own faculty and administrative structure and its own budget and hiring authority.

The grant opportunity also allows collaborative arrangements. Two or more eligible institutions (including eligible branches and eligible independent branch campuses) can join together to carry out education, applied research, and extension-type efforts in the food and agricultural sciences. Collaborations may also include state government units and private sector partners alongside the eligible institutions, which creates room for workforce-aligned partnerships, internships, and community-based projects. Importantly, an existing collaboration can apply as a collaborative grant applicant if it includes at least two eligible institutions and can demonstrate both capability to carry out the allowed activities and a clear commitment to the ANNH program goals.

A key compliance requirement is certification and documentation of eligibility submitted with the application. Each primary applicant has to demonstrate or certify that it qualifies under the ANNH program; if the application is submitted as a collaboration, each eligible institutional member must also demonstrate or certify eligibility. One named way to satisfy this requirement is to submit a U.S. Department of Education "Designation as an Eligible Institution" letter for FY 2022 funding under the Title III, Part A Alaska Native-Serving Institutions Program or the Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions Program. The solicitation indicates that failure to meet eligibility criteria by the deadline can lead to exclusion from consideration or prevent NIFA from making an award, so this documentation is not a minor detail but a threshold condition.

From the opportunity metadata provided, the funding opportunity number is USDA NIFA AHSI 008601 and the CFDA (assistance listing) number is 10.228, with NIFA as the administering agency. The original closing date listed is 2022-04-04, and the award ceiling shown is $1,000,000. The opportunity is categorized as a discretionary grant under the funding activity category of agriculture. Overall, the program is designed to help eligible institutions expand and improve their food and agriculture-related teaching and learning ecosystems while directly supporting student success and workforce readiness in areas that matter to Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian communities.

• The National Institute of Food and Agriculture in the agriculture sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "ALASKA NATIVE-SERVING AND NATIVE HAWAIIAN-SERVING INSTITUTIONS EDUCATION COMPETITIVE GRANTS PROGRAM" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.228.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2022-02-01.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-04-04. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $1,000,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for USDA NIFA AHSI 008601

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