Resident Instruction Grants Program for Institutions of Higher Education in Insular Areas | USDA NIFA RIGP 007856

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA NIFA RIGP 007856

The Resident Instruction Grants Program for Institutions of Higher Education in Insular Areas is a USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) discretionary grant opportunity (CFDA 10.308) designed to build and strengthen higher education capacity in the Insular Areas, specifically in the food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences (often grouped as FANH sciences). At a practical level, the program is meant to help eligible colleges and universities in these locations improve what they can offer students and communities, with an emphasis on workforce preparation and locally relevant agricultural and environmental challenges common to tropical and subtropical regions.

This opportunity is organized around two related project types. The first, Resident Instruction in Insular Areas (RIIA), focuses on improving an institution's educational strength and day-to-day instructional capacity. Funding under RIIA can support concrete upgrades such as modernizing libraries and learning resources, developing or refreshing curriculum, strengthening faculty capacity, purchasing scientific instrumentation used for teaching, improving instruction delivery systems (including technology-enabled learning), and boosting student recruitment and retention. The overall idea is to help institutions respond more effectively to education and training needs in agriculture and related sciences, especially where geographic isolation and limited infrastructure can make it harder to sustain robust academic programs.

The second project type, Agricultural Facilities and Equipment Improvement (AGFEI), is aimed more directly at the physical and technical infrastructure needed to conduct agricultural research in Insular settings. AGFEI supports acquiring, renovating, or improving facilities, as well as obtaining relevant equipment necessary for conducting agricultural research that supports tropical and subtropical agriculture. This includes research areas that are especially pressing in island contexts, such as pest and disease issues that can rapidly affect crops, ecosystems, and local food supplies. While RIIA is more centered on instruction and student-facing educational capacity, AGFEI is more focused on research-ready facilities and equipment that allow institutions to do serious, locally relevant agricultural science.

Across both components, NIFA signals an interest in expanding and enriching the undergraduate experience by connecting students to research, education, and extension activities rather than keeping those functions separate. The program also encourages collaboration, including partnerships with community colleges and a range of other higher education institutions such as Hispanic Serving Institutions, Alaska Native-Serving and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions, 1890 and 1994 land-grant institutions, and non-land-grant colleges and universities of agriculture. In other words, applicants are expected to think beyond a single campus and consider how cooperative relationships can broaden student opportunities and strengthen regional impact.

Eligibility depends on the component. For RIIA, eligible applicants are public or nonprofit, accredited two-year or four-year institutions of higher education located in an Insular Area that offer certificate or degree programs in the food and agricultural sciences and can demonstrate capacity to carry out teaching and extension programs in those areas. For AGFEI, eligibility is narrower: only individual land-grant colleges and universities (or other institutions that have obtained land-grant status through federal legislation) located in the Insular Areas may apply as individual applicants. The eight Insular Areas named in the opportunity are American Samoa; the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands; the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; the Federated States of Micronesia; Guam; the Republic of the Marshall Islands; the Republic of Palau; and the United States Virgin Islands.

The opportunity also clarifies that certain campus structures can apply in their own right. Branch institutions within a territory university system may be treated as separate eligible institutions if they are separately accredited as degree-granting entities and meet the rest of the eligibility definition. Independent branch campuses of an institution may also apply and receive awards as long as they meet the stated definition of an eligible institution.

A key administrative requirement is certification of eligibility at the time of application. Non-land-grant institutions must submit a letter signed by the institution's Authorized Representative certifying that the applicant meets the eligibility definition. The certification must confirm several core higher education characteristics: the institution admits as regular students only individuals with a secondary school completion credential (or equivalent); it is legally authorized by the territory to provide postsecondary education; it offers a bachelors degree program or at least a two-year program fully creditable toward a bachelors degree; and it is public or nonprofit and accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency (or holds recognized pre-accreditation status with a reasonable assurance of meeting accreditation standards). The solicitation indicates that eligibility documentation must be included within the Project Narrative section of the application as directed in the RFA.

From the funding details provided, the opportunity is issued under Funding Opportunity Number USDA NIFA RIGP 007856, with an original closing date of February 18, 2021. The award ceiling listed is $150,000. The overall purpose stays consistent throughout the notice: strengthen instructional and research capacity in FANH fields in Insular Areas through targeted institutional improvements, better facilities and equipment where appropriate, and partnerships that expand student training and real-world engagement in agriculture, research, and extension.

• The National Institute of Food and Agriculture in the agriculture sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Resident Instruction Grants Program for Institutions of Higher Education in Insular Areas" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.308.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2020-10-16.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-02-18. (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 $150,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for USDA NIFA RIGP 007856

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